Harry Potter and the Blue-Haired Angel
by Quatermass
Summary: They thought he died at the hands of Lord Voldemort during the Third Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. But a Portkey misshap merely sent him through the cracks of reality. Now, as Voldemort gathers his forces, and the Ministry sticks its head in the sand, Harry Potter returns from a future in another world...and he's brought NERV, as well as his girlfriend Rei, with him...
1. Foreword

**FOREWORD**

Yep. I'm insane. I mean, I have to be, to keep making rods for my own back. But this is one of those ideas that wouldn't go away. A Harry Potter and _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ fanfic. One of my stranger ideas, but we'll roll with it.

I've been pondering such a fic for a while. It was Gregg Landsmann's entertaining _Evangelion_ fanfic _Nobody Dies_ that got me hooked into fanfic in a big way, and without that work, I wouldn't be writing fanfic at all. In addition, _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ remains one of my all-time favourite anime franchises. I had considered a fic where the pilots end up at Hogwarts (post-Third Impact and de-aged), and then one where Rei alone does so, but I eventually discarded those fic ideas. But the idea of such a crossover wouldn't go away, and there's surprisingly few, given how popular Harry Potter crossovers are. And frankly, I wanted to do a bit of exercise in Rei-shipping.

Rei is my personal favourite out of the _Evangelion_ characters. Gentle, exotically beautiful, and her apparent emotionless nature is merely because she doesn't quite know how to express emotion properly. And she gets a pretty lousy deal at the end of the series. Well, so do the rest of the _Evangelion_ characters. Which is why there'll be Rei/Harry shipping, albeit of a strong friendship kind. That being said, no lemon or lime or slash or anything of the sort. Yes, there'll be sexual references and scenes of an uncomfortable nature, but that's what you get with _Evangelion_ 's fairly dark nature. I considered having this starting in the _Evangelion_ universe, but I've decided to start in the Harry Potter universe, with flashbacks to what happened in the _Evangelion_ universe.

Now for the usual disclaimers. Firstly, there will be annotations up the wazoo. You don't like it? Well, there's the door.

Secondly, this is an M-rated work. Violence, language, and sexual references will be present. You have been warned.

Thirdly, there will be spoilers for both Harry Potter and _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ , especially the latter. Again, you have been warned.

Fourthly, there'll be little to no bashing of the characters. Well, save for some who really deserve it. But Ron and Dumbledore won't be.

Fifthly, I am not slavishly using Japanese honorifics or words. You Weeaboos don't like it, then too bad.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Harry Potter and _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ are the properties of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise… _Tang_.


	2. Chapter 1: Visitation - Should Auld

**CHAPTER 1:**

 **VISITATION/SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT AND NEVER BROUGHT TO MIND?(** **1)**

A broken man was on his knees, clutching the mangled stump which was all that remained of his hand. Dark-haired, with a beard that made him look vaguely like a sexual pervert, and with tinted glasses now askew. His face, once so hard and assured, was now filled with sorrow and anger. His blood pooled on the floor beneath him.

Behold, Gendo Ikari. The Man who sold the World. The Man who would be God.

He was far from the only one in this world, and their plans, like his own, had been thwarted. Thwarted by that slut of a doll, and that damnable interloper. Now, the massive crucifix-like structure was empty, devoid of the massive entity once hanging on it. The Rapture had occurred, but he hadn't been taken to his just reward like he should have been. He hadn't been reunited with his wife. Well, he had, but for all of a few minutes, all of which was spent with her coldly haranguing him. How dare she? After all he did, for her?

The one consolation he had was that if his plans had been thwarted, so had SEELE's. It was a pyrrhic victory at best, a bitter consolation. But it was all that he had.

The sounds of bootsteps. "Don't move!" Soon, he was surrounded on all sides by uniformed soldiers. JSSDF. SEELE's lapdogs. Their pawns. He was surprised they had got here so soon.

One of them spoke on his radio. "We've found Ikari. The older one, yes. No, he's the only one left. Even the ones we killed before everything went weird are gone. No sign of the EVA Units either, save for the armour and paraphernalia." The man, in a helmet and armour, looked at the crucifix. "No sign of the Angel they had here either. Whatever happened, it's gone now. Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Good riddance. Do we bring him in, or do our orders stand?" After a pause, the man nodded. "Yes, sir. Over and out." He then raised his gun to Gendo Ikari's head. "Any last words, you genocidal son of a bitch?"

Gendo finally looked up into the man's goggles, before he said, "Damn you to Hell, Harry Potter."

The next thing that went through many of the soldiers' minds were, _Who the fuck is Harry Potter?_ A few knew the name from the files of key NERV personnel to target for assassination, but nothing else.

The next thing that went through Gendo Ikari's mind was a bullet. And not a single fuck was given.

* * *

In his sanctuary, Keel Lorenz raged bitterly. Immortality and godhood had been within his grasp. And now, it had been snatched away. He knew who was the responsible party. Ikari had been treacherous, true, but Keel was willing to believe the import of Ikari's last words.

Harry Potter. An interloper. A spanner in the works. The stone thrown into the calm pond of the Scenario that ensured that Instrumentality couldn't be achieved. Adam was gone. Lilith was gone. The Evangelion Units were gone. Anything he could use to achieve godhood was gone.

He screamed and raged until he was caught in a paroxysm of coughing. Despite his best efforts, the Reaper was closing in, little by little. And there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

Only two people in what remained of Tokyo-3 knew what had happened. And that was because they had received an offer to depart with most of NERV. The JSSDF and SEELE left them alone in the mistaken belief that they knew nothing of any import.

In truth, Toji Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki knew many things of import. But they kept quiet. They were content knowing that they were safe in a world freed from the scourge of the Angels. They were content knowing they could live a happy life with each other. And they were content knowing that their friends were, hopefully, safer than they were here.

Safe being a relative term, of course, given where they ended up...

* * *

Against the night sky, the ramparts and towers of the distant castle looked imposing, even sinister. The shadows, however, were temporarily chased away by a light the hue of moonlight, but far more bright.

The source of this light was no moon. In fact, the source of the light, currently standing within a large sports field (that said light source nonetheless dominated), was truly bizarre. It was the gigantic, pale figure of a teenaged girl, completely naked, and seeming to glow from within with an ethereal light, bizarre wings of energy sprouting from its back. This bizarre visitation, almost as soon as it appeared, began to diminish, its form shrinking until its size was comparable to the hundreds of people who, until that point, were like ants at its feet. Then, the glow faded, and so too did the wings. What was left was a pale, naked teenage girl with short, shaggy blue hair.

Almost instantly, a teenaged boy with messy black hair and green eyes was at her side, draping a jacket around her shoulders. Upon an amused cough from a young woman with brown hair, green eyes, and a very strong resemblance to the blue-haired girl, the boy accepted a long lab coat (far more covering), which the blue-haired girl took, shivering.

"It's cold," she said quietly.

The boy looked around, nodding his head in agreement. "We're in Scotland, and Third Impact hasn't happened yet. It might not even do so, if what we found out was correct. _Tempus(_ _2)_ ," he said, waving a wand. Numbers appeared in the air, showing a time, and a date. "It's nearly the end of August," he said, scarcely believing it himself. The last time he had been here, it had been the 20th of June, 1994. Now here he was, a couple of months later. "Nearly autumn."

Nearby, a red-haired girl dressed in a skintight scarlet suit was shivering, an arm around her shoulder from a woman who appeared to be her mother. "Feels like winter," she remarked, a faint tinge of a German accent apparent in her voice. Along with some annoyance.

"That's still having some LCL on your body plus wind chill," her mother said. "Look at it this way, Asuka. You'll get to see snow, outside photos or an indoor skiing facility."

"I'll believe it when I see it," the thus-named Asuka retorted. "Oi, Merlin! Is this really the place you wanted to come back to?"

The green-eyed boy sarcastically dubbed Merlin fought to keep a scowl of annoyance from his face. "Yes, Asuka. This is Hogwarts. In fact, we're standing in the middle of the Quidditch Stadium. I think it's because this is where the Portkey was meant to go back to, but…well, there was a maze here." His face fell as he remembered what had happened in that maze…and when he had been captured by the enemy.

Another teenaged boy, who had been standing close to the brown-haired woman, was staring up at the towering stands in awe. "So this is a Quidditch Stadium?"

"Yeah. Not as big as a Geofront, Shinji, but even so…" The green-eyed boy looked at the blue-haired girl. "Rei, are you feeling better?"

"Yes," she said, in a quiet, gentle monotone. "That was certainly…an experience, Harry."

"You can say that again," a woman in her twenties, with hair that seemed to be dark purple, and dressed in a red, vaguely military-looking jacket, remarked. "Conspiracies, Third Impact, end of the world, JSSDF being used as SEELE's murderous catspaws, a lot of mind-fuckery…and a Giant Naked Rei. Oh, and we're currently in the grounds of a school for wizards and witches. Christ, I need a drink."

"You're not the only one, Misato," a blonde-haired woman said, reaching into her coat, and pulling out a cigarette. "I'll settle for nicotine."

"That will probably kill you, Ritsuko," remarked a man in his sixties, with a stern, academic look to him, though his eyebrow was raised in a wry manner.

"As the old cliché goes, Sub-Commander," Ritsuko retorted as she pulled out a lighter and lit up the cigarette, "life is a venereal disease that is invariably lethal. And considering I just recovered from both a bullet wound to the chest and being briefly turned into LCL, I think I deserve a cigarette."

"So, how long do we have to wait until someone comes from Hogwarts to meet us?" Misato asked.

As if in reply, a ball of flames appeared, and a strange, ethereal song emanated from the ball as two figures materialised from within. One was a magnificent bird, of noble bearing and fiery colours. The other was an old man, who seemed dressed like some pantomime version of Merlin, complete with long beard and purple robes. He was holding onto the bird, though he let go when he saw Harry, and gaped. As if he had seen a ghost. Which, Harry reflected, he pretty much had.

As the old man stared at Harry, Asuka said, with a snort of amusement, "Okay, I take it back Harry, this guy should be called Merlin!"

"Harry?" the old man asked, as if scarcely daring to believe it. Then, he whipped out a wand and pointed it at Harry, his eyes suddenly hard and flinty with suspicion. "Who did I send to help you in the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Fawkes and the Sorting Hat," Harry responded, rolling his eyes. "Are you Professor Dumbledore, or Mad-Eye Moody? By the way, you might want to lower that wand, because Misato is a crack shot."

"Exactly," Misato said, having drawn her own pistol, and aiming it at the wand wielded by the old man. "Plus, we've just had a collective bad day. Seriously, the worst thing one should experience on New Year's Day is a hangover(3). Not the Apocalypse. So back off, Merlin."

Dumbledore looked over at Misato, before waving his wand at her once, sending the gun flying to his hand. As he put the wand, and the gun, into his robes, he said, as if discussing the weather, "I've also had to deal with belligerent soldiers during the Second World War. German soldiers, for the most part."

Misato gaped, staring at her hand, and then back at Dumbledore. Her mouth worked up and down for a moment, before she settled for saying, "Can I have that back, please?"

"I'll consider it, my dear lady," Dumbledore said with equanimity. "Now, Harry, my boy, seeing as you have established your _bona fides_ , but have brought a significant number of Muggles here. While I am flexible when it comes to the Statute of Secrecy, it's not going to go down well with the Ministry. Especially with the ugly rumours being circulated by the Daily Prophet."

"Wait, what?" Harry demanded. Then, his eyes widened. "Cedric! I couldn't bring his body back. It's…"

"I know. Thankfully, you took it from the graveyard to…wherever you went next. But there are persistent rumours that you murdered Cedric. Thankfully, the rumours that you were abducted and held prisoner by one of Voldemort's followers are more prevalent, but your coming back alone will raise a number of questions." Dumbledore stepped forward, concern now apparent in his face. No longer was he the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Now he was the concerned guardian. "Harry…where have you _been_ these past months? China? Japan?" he queried, noting that, with the exception of Harry, everyone else present seemed to have Asian features.

"Japan," Harry said. "Look, Professor…at the very least, we need to get these people inside. Especially Rei."

"Rei?" Dumbledore realised he meant the blue-haired girl with the blood-red eyes, shivering under a lab coat, and nothing else.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?!" Asuka snapped. "I'm in a wet plugsuit!"

"And you're pulling it off nicely," Harry retorted.

"I'll have the House Elves bring some tents out," Dumbledore said.

" _Tents?_ " Asuka demanded incredulously as Dumbledore walked away. "He's going to have us sleep in _tents?_ "

"If they're anything like the ones at the Quidditch World Cup…well, did you guys have _Doctor Who_ in your world?"

The older man, the one called Sub-Commander, and whose actual name was Professor Kozou Fuyutsuki, nodded. "So…they're like a TARDIS?"

"And pretty luxurious too." Harry looked to the sky wistfully, before sighing. "…I'm home," he said quietly.

"Welcome home," Misato said, echoing words she had once said to Shinji what felt like an eternity ago, but really was only a matter of months.

Even so, it was home only to one of those present. For virtually everyone else, they had been uprooted from a home that had admittedly become hostile to their presence. And some knew very well that they had traded one war for another…

 **CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, here we go. The first chapter of this fic. Now, in case you're wondering why the characters, especially Shinji and Asuka, seem rather too upbeat for having lived through the events of** ** _The End of Evangelion_** **, there's two reasons for that. One, Harry had a small but good influence on the events of** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **, or at least everything from Leliel onwards (so the scene where Shinji commits that act of onanism over a comatose Asuka doesn't happen, not in that way). Secondly, and this will be explained later in greater depth, but when Rei brought them here (well, Rei/Lilith, or the Giant Naked Rei if you'd prefer), she effectively put them, albeit temporarily, through a brief form of Instrumentality. That had a combined effect of both giving them some understanding of one another, as well as soothing (but not healing) their most recent psychological wounds. That, and I'm a crappy writer, but whatever.**

 **1\. Like the TV series, I'm giving the chapters two titles. As to why I'm giving a verse from** ** _Auld Lang Syne_** **, well, see the below annotation. Plus, it's Harry returning to old acquaintances.**

 **2\. I thought this was a canon spell, but it seems to be a fanon spell. I've decided to use it anyway. It gives time and date.**

 **3\. From what I've read, at least part of the events of** ** _The End of Evangelion_** **take place on New Year's Day. Hence my choice of chapter title, which was taken from** ** _Auld Lang Syne_** **.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Moonlit Lake - Calling

**CHAPTER 2:**

 **THE MOONLIT LAKE/CALLING THE OLD MAN OUT**

 _It was like some scene out of the Apocalypse itself._

 _A bizarre black ball with white stripes hovers above the ruins of a city, said city seeming to sink into a shadow covering much of the ground. In the skies above, the trails of a legion of planes scrawl white lines across the sky, while a pair of massive giants, one red, the other blue, watch on. There is the air of anticipation, of something about to happen._

 _Though what happens next was unexpected by all those observing, save for perhaps a few at best._

 _Suddenly, the darkened ground erupts as if subject to an earth tremor, splitting the ground, and ragged, uneven spikes of rock and concrete appearing, tinted red, as if the innards of some massive creature. The patterns on the black sphere shift, ripple, and faded, almost as if it is some vast, spasming creature, leaving only a black sphere in the sky, like a portal to another world._

 _And then, the sphere bulged, grotesquely, before a massive hand forced its way out, blood-red liquid spurting out at high pressure. In a grotesque parody of birth, a giant with a single horn, tainted red by the liquid from its original purple, rips its way free with a bestial, distorted roar (of rage? Of release?). The sphere bursts, and the giant lands gracefully on the ground, bathing in a shower of what seemed like blood._

 _The onlookers, even as they looked on in horror at what they had witnessed, sincerely believed that there was only one person accompanying that giant. After all, all that went into the bizarre void that was their latest adversary was the pilot of said sentinel._

 _They weren't expecting the English boy, clutched carefully in the giant's right hand, barely alive, and clinging onto the corpse of another…_

* * *

Rei Ayanami looked out across a less grotesque lake, bathed gently in moonlight. Thanks to those creatures Dumbledore had summoned, she was now fully clothed. Normally, she didn't care about whether she was clothed or not: only society seemed to care, and she dressed more to keep situations from getting too awkward. But the climate was too cold for her liking (post-Third Impact Japan was perpetually in the grip of summer), and she had been naked when Gendo Ikari had forced Adam into her body, which had put a pall.

She shuddered at the memory of the sensation. It felt like a kind of rape, Gendo casually violating the integrity of her body in order to fuse Adam and Lilith by pushing his hand into her abdomen. Only Harry's intervention, and Shinji's cry for help, had given her the resolve to defy the man she could technically call a father.

The thing was, was she truly just Rei Ayanami anymore? She was now a fusion of Adam and Lilith and human flesh, with the soul of Lilith, reunited after years spent torn apart. She had, for a time, become a goddess, tearing reality a new orifice, and bringing the recently-dead back to life. She had taken the souls of the mothers who became part of the EVA Units, and given them new bodies. Even now, that power still lurked within her, and to tell the truth, she was afraid of it.

"Rei?" came a familiar, welcome voice.

Rei turned to find Harry, looking concerned. "Harry. How does it feel to be home once more?"

"I…don't know. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I'm glad a lot of NERV personnel speak English as well as Japanese(1)," Harry said. "Otherwise, the logistics would be even worse. Even now, we've got to think about where they will stay. They can't stay at Hogwarts forever, obviously. Rei, are you all right? I mean, we've left your world and all."

"I am fine," Rei said. "I had few attachments there, save for what we brought over. I am more worried about the others."

Harry chuckled. "Asuka would be saying, 'Wondergirl is concerned for others?! Oh, be still my beating heart!'"

Rei chuckled, very softly. It was a truism at NERV that Rei rarely smiled, and never laughed. Unless you counted the naked clones that giggled and gaped within the massive tank in the Dummy Plug Plant, until recently. But Harry had changed Rei. And it was something that those close to her knew that Rei was far from emotionless. Rather, her emotional expression was blunted and stunted. Shinji had already started the process of drawing Rei out of her shell, but it was Harry who stepped it up a notch, much to the annoyance of Gendo Ikari, and to the delight of Ritsuko Akagi. Ritsuko loved the fact that Gendo had a rival for Rei's affections. "Pilot Sohryu was, and is, blind to many things. Such as being blind to the fact that being a _tsundere_ does not win you the affections of your would-be mate."

* * *

Back in the makeshift campsite, Asuka Langley Sohryu sneezed heartily twice. "Okay," she muttered to her mother. "Either I'm getting a cold because it's freezing with just a plugsuit on, or someone's talking smack about me behind my back!"

Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu smiled indulgently, before saying, "Given your track record, darling? It's probably both."

* * *

"Yeah, that's right," Harry agreed. "Don't worry about the others. Dumbledore…he's much better than Gendo."

"That sets the bar somewhat low," Rei said. A twitch of the lips on her was like a scowl on anyone else. "Especially after what I found within your scar. A good thing I was able to remove it."

"By turning me into LCL. Not an experience I want to repeat, by the way," Harry said. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind breathing the stuff, not now. But _being_ the stuff? I could do without that. It's a bit off-putting. I felt like Snape would have scooped me up and put me into a cauldron, and turned me into something poisonous."

* * *

In his cottage at Spinner's End, Snape was staying up late, brewing a potion. Unfortunately, sneezing into said potion ruined it, and he did so twice.

He didn't even have to guess who was making imprecations about him behind his back. _Potter…you're alive_ , he grumbled internally as he wiped his nose with a handkerchief.

* * *

"I will not let him do anything like that," Rei said quietly. She then turned as she heard someone approach, and her eyes narrowed. "The headmaster again…"

Harry turned to face the old man, coming towards them. "Everyone seems comfortable," Dumbledore said. "Though that blonde-haired woman with the smoking habit was typing away at her…laptop, I believe they are called, and muttering about analyses. I'm surprised it works in Hogwarts."

"NERV puts a lot of shielding onto their devices," Harry said. "Given that N2 mines and exploding Angels tend to give off an EMP…"

"Ah yes. What happened to you, my boy? And who are these people?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's a very long story, and I don't think I can manage it tonight," Harry said. "I'll go back now. Rei, are you coming?"

"In a moment," she said. Her blood-red eyes turned to Dumbledore.

"Please don't liquefy him," Harry said as he walked back to the impromptu campsite.

"Liquefy?" Dumbledore asked, before suddenly, the girl's palm lashed out and hit him on the cheek. The blue-haired girl was surprised when he merely rubbed his cheek, looked at her sadly, and asked quietly, "Why?" Not in a manner that suggested, ' _Why did you slap me?_ ', but rather, ' _Which reason did you slap me for?_ ' As if he could discern that she was angry on Harry's behalf. And knew that he probably deserved it.

"The Dursleys. Leaving him in the Tournament. The Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Pick one."

"He told you?"

"More than that. I _saw_ it."

"You _saw_ it?" Dumbledore asked. "Are you capable of Legilimency?"

"If by that, you mean mind-reading, no. However, shortly before we came here, Harry and I became one being, briefly. I saw his life, and he saw mine. While he saw worse in my life, what I saw in his…" Dumbledore recoiled from the cold look in her scarlet eyes. "You are fortunate he holds you in high regard, despite all that. But I know you lied to him. Because he had a fragment of a soul within him, and I am certain that it was once part of Voldemort."

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "What happened to the soul fragment?"

"I removed it, and it dissipated. But I will not…" Suddenly, Rei was embraced by the old man. After a brief, startled pause, Rei asked, more confused than angry, "Why are you hugging me?"

"Because, my dear, you have saved Harry from a death sentence," Dumbledore said, releasing the blue-haired girl. "You have done what I, with all my so-called wisdom and experience, couldn't." He looked at her with what looked like genuine relief, tears glittering in his eyes. "While I cannot divulge all the details, I had suspected the presence of that fragment…and I could not find any way to remove it that would not end in his death, save for a very risky plan. But Miss Rei…"

"Ayanami. My last name is Ayanami," Rei said.

"Miss Ayanami. I will have to confirm it, but if you have truly succeeded, then you have my most sincere gratitude. As for the Dursleys…well, it is best if I tell Harry the full details, but they have become a moot point. I had thought Harry dead, murdered by Voldemort, or else, given what my spy in his inner circle said, sent into some deadly location. There is a reason why shooting a Portkey-modifying spell at an activating Portkey is a bad idea(2). The only known people to have undergone such a thing vanished, never to be seen again. Harry is lucky to have survived…and luckier still to have found someone who cares about him so much. Few see him as anything other than the Boy Who Lived." He gave a paternal smile, and said, "I will talk to you both in the morning, Miss Ayanami." He began moving away, before he frowned, turning back to face her. "What did Harry mean when he told you not to liquefy me?"

"Exactly that. I can reduce a human body to the component sugars, amino acids, and lipids, creating an aqueous solution known as LCL. I believe Pilot Sohryu referred to the process as ' _getting Tanged_ ', in reference to some sort of soft drink."

"Ah." And with that, Dumbledore took his leave of Rei, who stood for a few moments more by the side of the lake, before heading back to the campsite.

* * *

Harry, inside one of the tents, was practising. He held out a hand, and was rewarded by a brief flash of orange light, in the shape of concentric octagons. He smiled as he did so.

"You have learned much on how to use the light of your soul, Harry Potter," came a voice that was an intrusion both welcome and unwelcome.

"Kaworu," Harry acknowledged, looking at the boy with the pale skin, silvery hair and red eyes. "Didn't Asuka want your affections again?"

"Oh no, she was actually quite happy to see me again, though she expressed it in a somewhat strange manner," Kaworu Nagisa said, rubbing a bruise on his cheek ruefully. "She slapped me rather hard, hard enough even to penetrate my A.T Field, and then she pulled me into what I believe you Lilim call a 'long hard snog'. There was also a lot of tearful berating in-between those two events. But she wanted to spend time alone with her mother. They have a lot of catching up to do. The same goes for Shinji. He is ecstatic to be able to talk to his mother, now that she is no longer a massive Angelic cyborg. Of course, given the manner in which Rei resurrected them, Dr Ikari and Dr Sohryu are now Angelic hybrids anyway, Nephilim, like Rei, and myself, and you." He sat down next to Harry on the bed. "It is strange to come across a world where the accidental landing of both Adam and Lilith has led not to competition, but to hybridisation. Not completely, but it is strange. In a good, interesting way."

"Don't start. Ritsuko's already drooling at the prospect of having other wizards and witches to test," Harry remarked. "How does it feel to be alive again?"

"…Pleasant. Oblivion is not at all interesting. I am glad you persuaded Rei to salvage my soul, and grant me a new body. A shame she couldn't do so for Ryoji Kaji."

"I asked, but I think Rei could only revive those who were freshly dead during Third Impact," Harry said. "You were dead for a while, but I think you were able to came back because you were an Angel."

"True. And my form is also truly stable, not metastable, so contact between me and material from Lilith will not cause an Impact event. Not unless I will it to be, and I do not want to cause Impact."

Harry nodded. "Anyway, I did it for Asuka. You helped bring her out of her catatonia, just as I helped Rei and Shinji stay sane. I don't think Asuka's right for Shinji, but I think I know who might be." He leaned back, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling of the tent. "God, they must've thought I was dead. I'd bet the Dursleys had a party, and the Slytherins had one too. But Ron and Hermione, Neville…how am I going to explain all that happened to them?"

"We'll do it together," Rei said, as she entered the tent. "And you will be pleased to know that I refrained from harming your headmaster in any way, though he seemed very pleased that that fragment of Voldemort's soul was vanquished."

"How pleased?"

"He…hugged me. He even wept a little. He said that any other method to remove it he could think of, save for a risky plan, would have killed you. So I won't punish him…much." Her eyes flickered over to Kaworu. "Please leave, Nagisa. I would like to be alone with Harry."

"So you two get a tent to yourselves?" Kaworu asked with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow. "I thought you two wished to wait until you were older before you engaged in sexual intimacy?"

Both of them blushed, Harry's face turning bright red, and Rei getting a faint but very noticeable splash of red across her cheeks. Her narrowing eyes were the only warning before Kaworu was blasted off his feet and out of the tent by a flash of orange light, a yelp of both surprise and amusement in his wake.

 _The way he speaks provocatively at times_ , Rei thought to herself, _I would not be surprised if for him, 'A.T Field' means 'Annoying Troll Field'_.

Out loud, Harry muttered, "Gooseberry." And Rei couldn't help but agree. He then turned to her. "Are you ready to meet Ron and Hermione?"

"Yes," Rei said. "It will be good to make new connections with new people…"

* * *

Later that night, before he went to bed, Dumbledore, on a whim, picked up a book that had an enrolment register for Hogwarts. He scanned the names for new students coming in this year, and when he saw one name amongst them, he nodded. Not in satisfaction, but certainly in a manner that showed that he was right in a guess.

It wasn't just one new name that was there, but two. He recognised one of them as being the name of a silvery-haired teenager with the same red eyes.

The names were Rei Ayanami, and Kaworu Nagisa.

 **CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, there you have it. The Horcrux is gone, Dumbledore is glad that Harry's death is no longer as inevitable as it was, and Kaworu is being a gadfly.**

 **I'm surprised at how popular it became so quickly, given that there was, until this chapter was posted, only one. Nearly a thousand views in less than 24 hours! And a community! I'm posting this anyway, as I want to have this fic beyond the first chapter.**

 **There'll be flashbacks to the** ** _Evangelion_** **universe from time to time, showing Harry's time there, as well as what changes happened.**

 **Oh, and in case you're wondering why I'm shipping Kaworu with Asuka, well, I want to ship Shinji with Hermione, and I was considering having Kaworu survive. I thought it would be interesting to pair those two (Kaworu and Asuka, I mean). Shinji and Asuka, thanks to Harry, are a bit more healthy, mentally speaking, than in TV canon, but even so, I actually find it hard to believe that the TV series versions (or the** ** _Rebuild_** **versions, for that matter) would get together. The manga versions of the characters, sure, I can believe that. And this story is based more on the TV series than the manga or** ** _Rebuild_** **. Shinji isn't that bothered about not having a love interest, especially once he learned the truth about Rei, but he'll get Hermione. Hermione is basically Asuka without the** ** _tsundere_** **gene, ego, and suicidal mother.**

 **1\. NERV is a UN organisation, and I reckon that English would still be the** ** _lingua franca_** **of the UN in the universe of** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **. So most of NERV would know at least some English.**

 **2\. An oblique reference to what actually happened to Harry. It's worth pointing out that I was inspired by another Harry Potter crossover which sadly seems to have been deleted from this website, as I couldn't find it despite searching. I can't remember the title, but it was a crossover with** ** _Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha_** **, and in the opening chapter, Wormtail, while trying to stop Harry from escaping the graveyard, uses the Portkey spell on the Portkey as Harry activates it. Unfortunately, it sends Harry into another universe. I decided to use the same conceit here, and I am sorry I couldn't find the right fanfic so that I could acknowledge the story and its author.**


	4. Chapter 3: Reunion - To Absent Friends

**CHAPTER 3:**

 **REUNION/TO ABSENT FRIENDS…**

 _Within a cylinder of orange liquid, a boy in his mid-teens floated, naked. No breathing apparatus was on his face, instead, he breathed the amber liquid as if he was in a glass and plastic womb._

 _Dr Ritsuko Akagi looked at the readings on a nearby console, frowning. These shouldn't…couldn't be correct. And yet, they were showing. Despite a number of reboots and recalibrations, these readings remained stubbornly consistent._

 _Of course, it wasn't the only thing disturbing about the teenaged boy floating in the tank, or the corpse he had arrived with._

 _The door to the chamber opened, and the clack of shoes on the metal floor sounded behind her. "Report, Dr Akagi," came the stern voice of Gendo Ikari, the commander of NERV, her boss, and her lover._

 _"Preliminary findings are…strange," Ristuko said quietly. "I'll have to do a full autopsy on the corpse of the boy who came with him, though initial scans of that show similar readings."_

 _"Which are?"_

 _Ristuko pulled up a series of anatomical outlines. "That," she pointed to the first, "is a normal human. Even with the in-utero radiological and biological contamination post-Second Impact, there's not that much difference between, say, your son and yourself. The differences are enough to allow them to pilot the Evangelion Units. This is Rei." She pointed to the second chart. "Note the Angelic tissue hybridisation, and the S2 organ." She pointed to the third chart. "And this is our mystery boy."_

 _Gendo peered at the chart. He was a decent enough scientist, but he wasn't on her level by any means, and he said, with a small scowl of annoyance, "What am I supposed to be seeing here?"_

 _"Well…the boy is like Rei. Only the Angelic tissue hybridisation is a lot subtler, seemingly woven into key points of his genetic code. And there is no S2 organ. Instead, there seems to be S2_ _ **organelles**_ _."_

 _"Organelles(_ _1)_ _?" Gendo asked, his eyes flickering up to the boy. "So he has them as well as mitochondria, or instead of them?"_

 _"Alongside normal human mitochondria. He appears to be a natural Nephilim. He could probably interbreed with a normal human. And the thing is, I'm seeing a mixture of traits from both Adam and Lilith. Commander, under normal circumstances, I would think he was something the European or American branches of NERV cooked up. Except he only appeared from within the Dirac Sea of the previous Angel. In addition, his clothing, and that of the dead body, had some strange logo on it. Quite heraldic, really, and under it, in English, was 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. There was even a Latin motto which translates to 'A sleeping dragon shouldn't be tickled'."_

 _Gendo frowned, well, more than he usually did. His default expression was a frown. "Are you telling me that this boy is a wizard?"_

 _"I cannot say that he is, only that he is some novel form of Nephilim, and that he was dressed with wizarding paraphernalia. He even had a wand. I haven't done invasive tests yet, but it seems to be made of holly, and an x-ray shows what may be a feather inside. There was also a trophy that seems to have traces of energy with a signature not unlike an A.T Field, but with significant differences. Said trophy seems to be for something called the 'Tri-Wizard Tournament'. Again, I have no idea what that means, or whether it is real."_

 _Ritsuko could see the wheels turning within Gendo Ikari's mind. Her current theory was that the boy was a natural-born Nephilim of some kind, an Angelic hybrid. There may be a hidden community that believed themselves to be magic users. It was either that, or SEELE was trying too hard to pull one on them._

 _"Would he be capable of piloting an Evangelion?"_

 _"Possibly, but I wouldn't try it. There's a small but appreciable chance that he might set off an Impact event. I know Rei doesn't, but that's because of how we made her."_

 _"Does he have a name?"_

 _"Yes, actually. Their names were on those sporting uniforms of theirs. The dead one is Cedric Diggory, while this one is Harry Potter. DNA fingerprinting matches nobody on file the world over for either of them."_

 _Gendo frowned again, before he turned on his heel and strode out. "Inform me of any further developments," he said, before closing the door._

 _Ritsuko scowled. In the aftermath of the death of the 12_ _th_ _Angel, Leliel, Misato had, understandably, distanced herself from Ritsuko. The Evangelions were more vital than the life of the pilots. And Misato had shown her increasing lack of suitability to command over that fiasco, going so far as to assault Ritsuko._

 _And yet, Ritsuko couldn't completely quell the qualms in her heart. Shinji was very much an innocent in all this, so very unlike his father. Out loud, she would have said his death was regrettable. Inwardly, she would have mourned his loss almost as much as Misato(_ _2)_ _._

 _Shinji had survived, and was in hospital, being treated for near-suffocation from carbon dioxide-tainted LCL as the life-support ran out of power. This boy, who had been found in EVA Unit 01's hand, was suffering from vacuum exposure, the Dirac Sea proper being mostly airless. He'd be all right before long._

Speak of the devil… _Ritsuko thought as the boy…no,_ _ **Harry's**_ _eyes snapped open. Even with the sedatives lacing the LCL, he began to thrash and panic, his mouth open wide as he hyperventilated. Ritsuko looked at him, and said, trying English rather than her native Japanese, "Do not panic! It is breathable! It is okay. Calm down, please."_

 _Harry stopped hyperventilating, before he spoke, the strange properties of LCL allowing him to speak despite the liquid breathing he was doing. "Where am I? Who are you?" he asked, with an English accent._

 _"You are in Tokyo-3, in NERV Headquarters." NERV technically was a secret organisation, but only as to its more specific purposes. NERV was publicly known as a special defence force headed by the United Nations. "I am Doctor Ritsuko Akagi."_

 _"NERV? What's that? What's this stuff I'm breathing? Please, let me out!"_

 _"In a moment," Ritsuko said. She checked the medical scans, before activating the draining procedure. She then hurried to a locker, pulled green surgical scrubs from it, and hurried over. As the tube emptied, Harry sagged to his knees, hacking up the LCL. With a surprisingly kindly air, she helped him don the surgical scrubs._

 _He looked at her, before he embraced her, crying, tears soaking into her lab coat. "He's back," he muttered. "He's back, and I can't warn them!"_

 _"Who? Who is back?"_

 _He looked at her, as if debating whether to tell her something. Then, he said, "The man who killed my parents. He's back, and I can't warn anyone that he is!"_

 _His heart-rending expression got to Ritsuko. Wherever he had come from, he was now far away from it…and his friends…_

* * *

"I have called a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore announced during breakfast the next morning. They were having it at a number of tables set up within the Quidditch Stadium. "Harry's survival needs to be announced to them at least, so we can find a way to let Magical Britain know he survived. Unfortunately, that is going to raise more questions. One of which is what happened to Cedric Diggory, and his body?"

Misato turned to Harry. "What's the Order of the Phoenix?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know."

"Oh, forgive me," Dumbledore said. He and the more important NERV personnel (Misato, Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki, and the two former Evangelions, along with the pilots and Harry) were seated at his table. "The Order of the Phoenix was an organisation I formed during the last conflict with Voldemort to try and fight back against him. I have reformed it recently after Voldemort's revival. Your parents were part of it, Harry, along with Sirius, Remus, and Alastor Moody. Incidentally, Harry, we learned rather too late that the Moody who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts last year was an impostor. The impostor, who turned out to be Barty Crouch Junior, had captured the real Moody, and was using Polyjuice to imitate him. He was an excellent actor, even I was fooled, but I have no doubt now that he was the one who put your name into the Goblet of Fire."

"What happened to him?" Harry asked.

"Alas, a Dementor escort with Fudge gave him the Kiss before Fudge could listen to his testimony. In any case, Fudge dismissed Crouch's confession to us as the ravings of a madman."

"Dementor? Kiss?" Asuka asked.

"A Dementor, Miss Sohryu, is a vile entity that sucks the happiness from their surroundings to feed on. Some victims even find themselves reliving their worst memories. The Dementor's Kiss is the ultimate punishment in our world: the Dementor sucks out and consumes the soul of their victim."

Asuka shuddered, despite her usual bravado. Harry realised that she would probably relive the moment she found her mother hanging from the ceiling, having committed suicide. And while he didn't like Asuka per se, he also knew that she didn't deserve to relive that, especially not after the 15th Angel, Arael, forced her to. Only his insistence on talking things through with her along with Rei managed to get through to the girl.

On another note, he would probably never listen to the Hallelujah Chorus ever again.

"I think it is best that we hear Harry's story, and yours, there. Though judging by your technology and abilities, I daresay it will be a hard to believe one," Dumbledore said.

"Well, considering it involves giant genocidal monsters and massive eldritch cyborgs, yes, it will be. Oh, and I went into the future. Well, a future," Harry said. "2015, to be precise."

Dumbledore stared for a moment, before accepting it with a shrug. "I will be perfectly honest, Harry, given that their technology is somewhat more advanced than the Muggle technology I have seen of late, I can believe that. It's the monsters and cyborgs I'm a little more sceptical about."

"Well, Dr Ikari and Dr Sohryu used to be said cyborgs. Well, their souls were in the cyborgs. I think it was to help the Evangelion Units work or something? And Shinji, Asuka, and Rei were the pilots of these things. Even I piloted Unit 01," Harry said. "By the way, thank you for letting me do that, Yui."

Yui Ikari smiled. "You're welcome. Anyway, your magic when you synchronised with Unit 01 released my restraints. And allowed me to take Zeruel's S2 organ."

"Whereas I had to make do with this leftover from Rei's second body," Kyoko remarked, before she said to Rei, "No offence intended."

"None taken, Dr Sohryu."

"In any case, I was going to take Harry and Rei to the current headquarters of the Order," Dumbledore said. "I may take some others, depending, though the fewer who know about where the Order is, the better. It is currently under a Fidelius Charm."

Misato stood. "Well, I'll go as well. I was operations director for NERV. If there's a plan, I can help with it."

"Um, I'd like to come too," Shinji said.

Yui nodded. "So would I. Kyoko?"

"No thanks," Kyoko said. "What about you, Asuka?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Ritsuko?" Misato asked.

"Some other time, perhaps. I'm still analysing this data," Ritsuko said, consulting a PDA in her hand.

"I'll cry off too," Fuyutsuki said. "These old bones need a rest."

"And I shall stay to keep Asuka company," Kaworu said.

"Then it is decided," Dumbledore said. "Once we have finished breakfast, please follow me…"

* * *

Harry hated travelling by Floo, and was briefly confused as to why Dumbledore showed him a piece of paper saying ' _The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at 12 Grimmauld Place_ ' before having him go through the fireplace in Dumbledore's office. But as he was flung through the Floo system, he remembered what Dumbledore said about the headquarters being under a Fidelius Charm.

He hadn't been the first one to go through: Misato and Rei insisted on going first. And he was grateful, as Rei caught him as he stumbled and tripped upon arriving in a dark and musty house. He could hear some harridan screeching about Mudbloods and traitors and the like, and muffled swearing.

The door opened to the room (apparently once some sort of living room), and a familiar dark-haired man barged in. "Dumbledore, you know better than to wake my mother…" The man halted, his grey eyes widening in shock, his mouth dropping open.

Harry had a rather sheepish smile, even as he helped Shinji and Yui after they arrived. "Everyone, this is my godfather, Sirius Black."

"…Harry?" Sirius asked, scarcely believing what he saw. Then, his eyes narrowed. "When did you first see me?"

"On the news, though I saw you in your Animagus form just before calling the Knight Bus," Harry replied.

Sirius laughed, before surging forward and embracing Harry. "Oh, Harry! Harry, where have you been?!"

After Sirius released him, Harry said, "It's a very long story. Anyway, Sirius, these are my friends, Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari, as well as Shinji's mother, Dr Yui Ikari, as well as Shinji's former commander and guardian, Major Misato Katsuragi."

" _Enchanté_ ," Sirius said, kissing first Yui's hand, and then Misato's. Yui giggled, flattered, and Misato, despite the man's resemblance in manner to Kaji, accepted the gesture without complaint.

"So, you're his godfather," Misato said. "He told me a lot about you."

"All good, I hope?" Sirius said with a mischievous smirk.

"Oh God, he's another Kaji," Shinji murmured. Then, he winced, remembering the fate of Misato's paramour. "Sorry, Misato."

"That's fine," Misato said. She still grieved for Kaji, but she would like to think she avenged him by scuppering Gendo and SEELE's respective plans.

Dumbledore, who had arrived, coughed quietly to gain their attention. "Sirius," he said. "Are they all here?"

"Yeah. The old crowd, the Weasleys, along with Nymphadora and Shacklebolt. Hermione and the Weasley children are a bit baffled that they've been invited to the meeting. Snivellous seems to have an idea what is going on, though. I don't know why. Moony's also hopeful. He found it hard to accept that Harry was dead, and frankly, neither did Hermione or the Weasley children."

"Well, I'll go in first, and then, when I give the cue, you bring them in."

* * *

Hermione had hoped that Harry had escaped, had survived, though some of the more cool, dispassionate parts of her reckoned that this was unlikely. She tried to ignore them.

She also wondered why Dumbledore had allowed them into this meeting of the Order. She had been staying at 12 Grimmauld Place for some time, but they had never been allowed to attend the meetings of the Order. So why now? What had changed?

Molly had finally gotten the portrait of Walpurga Black under control, hiding her behind the curtains and sending her to sleep again, and they were all gathered in the kitchen, save for Dumbledore, and Sirius. Soon, Dumbledore walked in. "I am calling this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to…well, order." A few small chuckles swept the kitchen where they were holding the meeting. "Now, I am sure that you are all wondering why I have brought you here, including those who are not normally brought into our meetings. Well, that is because I bring good tidings, of a sort. Sirius?"

Hermione's heart leapt into her throat when he mentioned good tidings. And when the door opened, and Sirius walked through, followed by five others. Three teenagers, and two adults, all but one of whom had Oriental features. However, it was upon seeing the black-haired, green-eyed teenager that Hermione, along with the Weasleys and Lupin, yelped, "Harry!"

He wasn't wearing glasses anymore (Hermione guessed contact lenses), he looked slightly haggard, albeit more fit than he was when they last saw him, and his scar had faded somewhat, but it was definitely Harry. "Hi," he said in a quiet tone, a rather nervous smile playing around his features.

A cacophony of questions assaulted Harry from all sides, until Dumbledore called for calm. "Before Harry explains what happened to him, I would like to introduce our other guests, people who have apparently taken care of him. This is Rei Ayanami." He indicated a beautiful, blue-haired girl with crimson irises and pale skin, about the same age as Harry. Hermione wondered if she was an albino. "This is Shinji Ikari." A dark-haired, nervous-looking boy waved. "This is Dr Yui Ikari, his mother." The brown-haired woman smiled warmly. "And this is Major Misato Katsuragi."

"Hey," the purple-haired woman with the red jacket said. She then looked at Tonks, she of the bubblegum-pink hair, and smiled. "Hey, love the do."

"Thanks," Tonks said.

"Did you end up in Japan, Harry?" Hermione asked, recognising the names as probably being Japanese.

"Yes, and no," Harry said. "You'd probably understand more than anyone else here, Hermione." He took a deep breath, gathering himself to tell them what happened. When he spoke, he spoke quietly, but he was dropping a big bombshell.

"I ended up in a parallel universe. In the year 2015."

 **CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And there you have it. Harry reunites with his friends. We also get some exposition from Ritsuko in flashback about how magic works.**

 **Review-answering time!** **duskrider** **: I had a quick look at that fic. The premise is intriguing, and the fic itself is entertaining, but I wish the quality of the prose was a touch better. My inspiration for an Asuka/Kaworu shipping was partly an implied ship in Gregg Landsman's** ** _The Long Night of the Harvest_** **, a crossover with** ** _Mass Effect_** **, and a more overt ship in** ** _Going Another Way_** **by Tribun.**

 **Slirith** **: You're welcome. Though I am sure someone in a fanfic somewhere has thought up that joke before.**

 **jgkitarel** **: I initially wanted to do a story where Harry is stuck in the** ** _Evangelion_** **world, but decided that I would rather do a story set in the Harry Potter world instead. This is why we only have vignettes showing what Harry did during the events of** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **. In addition, how I pace it is my own business. I'm trying to set up the groundwork for the story in a short period so I can get to the nitty-gritty, and try not to get bogged down in exposition.**

 **Keep in mind that Rei hasn't met Dumbledore until this point, and has only seen him through Harry's memories or by talking to Harry, which are second-hand accounts. Harry still has a good view of Dumbledore, though Rei discussing concerns with him has tempered that a little. Rei, however, sees someone who is, at best, ineffectual, and at worst, manipulative and only superficially caring. Her perception does begin to change when she realises that he's genuinely glad that Harry doesn't have the Horcrux anymore, but she takes what he says with a pinch of salt, and keeps an eye on him. Yes, it is unfair to compare him to Gendo, but not unreasonable from Rei's viewpoint. She detests manipulation.**

 **Mangahero18** **: It's on purpose, but not for that reason. I just write in chapters (story-wise) that are 2100-3000 words long. It's my style. It's not meant to make you hungry for more. I would think that the story would do that regardless…**

 **1\. Organelles are structures within the cells of the body that have specific functions. Mitochondria, which Gendo mentions, are the powerhouses of cells, and the S2 organelles that I have made up for mages are not dissimilar, converting energy into magic.**

 **2\. Ritsuko is a pretty cold-hearted bitch, but I wanted to show that there was a small, weak, guttering flame of humanity that hadn't quite gone out. In fact, I think this is part of the reason why Ritsuko shows Shinji Rei's origins in episode 23: a lot of it is borne out of malice towards Shinji and his father, but it is telling that Ritsuko tells Shinji, and not Misato (at least until Misato invites herself along), to come with her to see the truth. I think she wanted to tell Shinji the truth, partly to hurt him, but also partly to have him understand what the hell is going on. Harry helps kindle that weak flame until Ritsuko begins to change. That, and the fact that he catches Rei's eye, and thus is competition for her affections with Gendo (and doesn't have the incest thing going that Shinji and Rei inadvertently have).**


	5. Chapter 4: Pertinent Questions - To

**CHAPTER 4:**

 **PERTINENT QUESTIONS/TO CHASE AWAY THE SHADOWS…**

 _The first time Harry met Rei was not a good time, to say the least. After a series of medical check-ups, he had been released by Dr Akagi (after being given a uniform to dress in), and told to wait for someone to escort him._

 _Harry stared at the wall. If what Ritsuko Akagi had told him was true (and he couldn't quite rule out the possibility that this was some delusion somehow induced by Voldemort or one of his lackeys), he was over two decades into the future, and in Japan. Fearing to break the Statute of Secrecy, he claimed that Voldemort was a British terrorist with a vendetta against his family. He was told bluntly that Voldemort was unknown to them, and neither were his friends. Ritsuko, however, seemed disturbed when he claimed ignorance of Second Impact, though Harry was equally disturbed when she told him what had caused it._

 _The official story was that a small but fast meteorite had hit Antarctica in December 1999, vaporising the icy continent due to travelling at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, and causing natural disasters and wars that led to half the world's population dying. But then, she dropped the real bombshell: the truth was that Second Impact was caused when scientists were investigating a mysterious entity known as Adam, a gigantic creature codenamed an Angel. And NERV was formed to fight off Angel attacks. Harry had ended up inside one of the more bizarre Angels, Leliel, which was a living portal in space and time._

 _Dr Akagi then had asked him whether he had any special abilities. Harry feared that his silence spoke louder than any denial he could have mustered. He was told that, until he was vetted, he would be placed in supervised accommodation, as he had ended up caught in the middle of a war between NERV, a secret organisation, and the Angels. And she made some remark that she knew he was more than just a normal human being. She probably had his wand. She probably knew more than she was saying._

 _Should he try to escape? No, he couldn't. He didn't know how to Apparate, though he remembered doing so to escape Dudley and his gang through accidental magic. And if he tried on foot, well, there were a lot of people with guns. He could try casting Expelliarmus wandlessly, but would that get him anywhere?_

 _Akagi had at least been sympathetic when he realised that, if half the world's population died in the years following Second Impact, his friends may well have died: the UK was hit pretty hard by Second Impact and the wars._

 _He was staring at the wall bleakly when he heard a quiet voice say, in accented English, "Are you Harry Potter?"_

 _He turned to see a girl about his age, dressed in what may have been a school uniform. She had extremely pale skin, blood-red eyes (reminding him a little too much of Voldemort for his liking), and sky blue hair. Her face seemed expressionless, save for her eyes. You could tell, just, that she was looking at him with mild curiosity._

 _"Yes, I am," Harry said. "And you are?"_

 _"Rei Ayanami," she said quietly. Her voice was almost a monotone, a gentle, quiet voice barely above a murmur. "The Commander sent me to escort you to your accommodation. Please, come with me."_

 _Harry sighed resignedly, and stood, following her._

* * *

 _Rei didn't know what to make of this newcomer. The Commander had sent her to take him to a secure apartment on the grounds of NERV HQ, as well as to observe him, and report her findings to him directly. He had done so shortly after she left Shinji's room, Shinji having only now woken up after his ordeal._

 _He didn't seem that much different from Shinji, superficially. There was the dark hair, the scrawny frame, the weight of the world on their shoulders…but there was something else in Harry's demeanour, aside from a sorrow that she heard was due to him believing that those he knew were dead. It was as if he was a soldier. Like he had been fighting. Shinji fought, but he didn't have the look of a soldier about him._

 _And there was something else, something that seemed to confirm what Akagi said. She felt a strange kinship to Harry, as if they were not dissimilar in nature. If she was correct, and he was some kind of natural Nephilim, then what did that mean for the Scenario?_

 _"So, Rei, what do you do around here, anyway?" Harry asked. "I didn't think a top secret organisation employed kids my age."_

 _"I am one of the pilots for the Evangelion Units," she replied._

 _Harry vaguely remembered a purple, massive titan just before he lost consciousness in that white void. "Is that like a big robot? Purple?"_

 _"That was Evangelion Unit 01," Rei said. "I pilot EVA Unit 00. And the Evangelion Units are, properly speaking, massive cyborgs."_

 _"Oh. Okay," Harry said, looking perturbed. "But why do they have a teenager piloting that thing?"_

 _"Only those born after Second Impact can pilot Evangelions," Rei said. "You ask a lot of questions."_

 _"Rei, if you were in my position, you'd ask a lot of questions. Sorry if I'm bothering you, though."_

 _"You are not bothering me," she said. And truth be told, she was finding herself intrigued by this interloper. He was something new, even more than Shinji or the Second Child had been. And the novel excited her, though she never showed it on her face._

 _A small part of her dearly wanted him to derail the Scenario. She had to wonder why…_

* * *

As Harry finished, Ron, who was boggling at his friend, summed up the mood when he said, "Bloody hell, mate, you've been through some weird stuff."

"But is any of that true?" Molly Weasley asked, not noticing that Ginny was shooting Rei dirty looks.

Surprisingly, it was Snape who answered. "Funny story. Sounds unbelievable." His black eyes roved over to Harry's, and his pitiless gaze bore into Harry's own. "Probably true(1). If Potter was trying to concoct a story for his whereabouts, then he wouldn't have made up such a fantastical tale, even by his own attention-seeking standards. It is either true, or he has gone completely insane. Then again, I haven't dismissed the latter option yet."

"With a tongue like that, you have to be Snape," Misato remarked.

"Ah, so my reputation precedes me," Snape responded archly. He noticed Rei glaring at him. "Do I have something on my face, Ayanami?"

"A sour expression," Rei responded.

"That sort of insolence would get you points deducted if you were in school," Snape said coolly.

Rei merely raised an azure eyebrow, though it was a rather eloquent eyebrow. It said, _Really? You're threatening a teenager who can liquefy you with a thought?_

"We are getting off-track," Dumbledore said. "We need to release a more palatable cover story to the press, as we cannot keep Harry's return secret forever. I've considered one that is broadly plausible, based on the truth. As the Ministry refuses to believe in Voldemort's return, we will say that Harry was abducted by one of his followers, and while trying to escape with Cedric's body, their Portkey was attacked mid-activation. Harry ended up in Japan, where he aided a secret Muggle paramilitary unit that deals with monsters. Said unit was betrayed by their backers, and Harry and Rei, through Apparition, made it back to Hogwarts. Cedric's body was cremated in Japan, and left in a secret location. Rei is, for all intents and purposes, a witch, and Kaworu Nagisa is a wizard. Indeed, the enrolment book at Hogwarts now has their names. It wouldn't do so unless they had magic."

"But what about NERV personnel?" Misato asked. "Where are we going to put them?"

"Some can be accommodated at Hogsmeade," Dumbledore mused. "But to put the others back into Muggle society may make them conspicuous if they don't have any identification. Would any want to go back to Japan? I have contacts with the Ministry there through the ICW, and they can help arrange for identification that will pass muster with the Muggle authorities."

"I'll talk to them," Misato said. "The NERV personnel, I mean. Most of the ones we brought with us were technicians and scientists, not soldiers. I'm pretty sure Rei sent many of those with living family back to them, though. But between the Second Impact wars and our fights against the Angels, surprisingly few had family to go back to. Of course, they'll have to adapt to technology two decades older than they're used to, especially if they go into the tech industry." She then looked at them all. "But there's another issue, probably more pertinent. Voldemort."

There were some gasps, some winces, and a few scowls. "And what can a Muggle bring to the table?" Snape asked.

"Well, back where I came from, I was the very model of a major and operations director," Misato said cheekily.

"Oh really? You look more like a model than a major," Snape snarked.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Misato said, her grin widening, before it settled into a more grim mask. "From what Harry has managed to tell me, Voldemort…please stop that," she said as they reacted. "Voldemort is basically a terrorist, using mostly guerrilla tactics. He works against larger, more organised foes through hit-and-run attacks with presumably no warning, and from what I infer, he also has allies within your government. Harry said that a Lucius Malfoy was high up in your government here?"

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "He has the ear of the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, thanks to generous donations to various causes. And Fudge is keeping up a denial that Voldemort is back. Malfoy is poisoning his mind against me, and I have heard rumours that Fudge intends to exert more control over Hogwarts. He's a good administrator, and an inoffensive politician, but he is also afraid of what it might mean if Voldemort does come back. He's also afraid of my power, believing that I wish to become the Minister of Magic. Frankly, I do not want to die by drowning in paperwork."

Misato smirked at the joke, but got back to her thoughts. "Do the normal authorities have any jurisdiction over the Ministry? Like the Queen, or the Prime Minister?"

"No," Lupin said. "Technically, the Queen and the Prime Minister are aware of the Magical World, and they have authority over them, but in practise, the Ministry has acted with almost full autonomy for centuries. And Fudge wouldn't take too kindly to Muggle authorities muscling in. Worse, if there's any sign of that, You Know Who might target them for assassination, or else put them under the Imperius Curse. Keep in mind that a powerful wizard isn't invincible by any means. Surprise them with an army, and they get stopped. But a wizard with enough training and enough warning can easily destroy a squad of soldiers on their own. A dozen or so could wipe out an army, especially with a series of Blasting Curses."

Misato frowned. "So the normal authorities are a last resort, then. Okay, well, I guess we'll have to gather intelligence first, but I have some ideas I'll have to flesh out with you guys. We'll work on that later. I know some of you want to catch up with Harry."

* * *

A short while later, while Harry and Rei caught up with his friends from school, along with Sirius and Lupin, Dumbledore met, quietly, with Snape. "I know you will report this to Voldemort," he said quietly. "Just remember to be judicious in what you tell him."

"And what shall I tell him, O Master?" Snape asked sarcastically.

"Broadly speaking, what we said we were going to put into the Daily Prophet. And Severus? Try not to antagonise Miss Ayanami. While she herself is far from dark, she is very protective of Harry, and she has, if what she implied was true, powers that even I do not understand. She was even able to remove the Horcrux I suspected was in Harry's scar."

"Impossible!" Snape hissed. "How could she do that without killing him?"

"I don't know the full details, but I tested Harry using the relevant charms, and he is free of the Horcrux. While this might deny us our ability to know what Voldemort is planning, it means that Harry no longer has that death sentence on him, and we don't need to go through with that plan. Even so, like it or not, Harry will have to confront Voldemort, if only because Voldemort believes that the prophecy binds him to Harry."

Snape scoffed quietly. "He's not ready. I don't think he ever will be."

"You do him a disservice, Severus. You always do," Dumbledore admonished quietly. "What he spoke was no fantasy, I believe. His experiences in that other world have tempered him. In addition, it has given him new friends and allies, and thus, gave us allies. NERV may prove to be a good help to us."

"Or a hindrance. They are still an unknown factor," Snape pointed out.

"We will see. I hope that they won't be." Inwardly, though, Dumbledore was troubled. Major Katsuragi was definitely a military type, and he wasn't fond of those. She had raised good and pertinent questions, but would she be able to help them make sure that they stopped Voldemort, cutting out the cancer that was the Dark Lord without doing anything else to harm the magical world? NERV were, after all, used to fighting massive monstrosities, not humans.

Time would tell, and hopefully, for good rather than for ill…

 **CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, we see how Rei and Harry met, as well as Misato beginning to form strategies about how to deal with Voldemort. That little bit about the Queen, the Prime Minister, and soldiers was actually my reaction to all those fics where said people manage to kick the collective arses of Magical Britain and save the day. I don't mind some of those fics, but it seems altogether too easy.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Arawn D Draven** **: When I write some of these crossovers, I sometimes try to write in an explanation of why certain people don't have magic. In the Cetra Heritage Saga, it is stated that the relatively small magic population of Earth was boosted by the arrival of Cetra refugees. In** ** _Sins of the Father_** **, I hint that magic and chakra are similar energies. In the original version of** ** _Lux in Tenebris Lucet_** **(and probably in the rewrite too), Alma's psychic powers are partially a misunderstood magical ability. And considering that many of the Angels in** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **have 'magic' abilities, I thought linking that back was a good idea. I also thought it'd be interesting to have magicals effectively have material from both Adam and Lilith, albeit without causing Impact. In fact, the term 'Nephilim' comes from a term that is thought to mean offspring of angels and humans.**

 **1\. Snape is echoing Rorschach's reaction to Moloch's claims of the Comedian breaking into his bedroom in** ** _Watchmen_** **.**


	6. Chapter 5: Connection - The Blue-Haired

**CHAPTER 5:**

 **CONNECTION/THE BLUE-HAIRED ANGEL**

 _"Am I…crying?"_

 _The tears fell through the ionised LCL, heavier than the breathable liquid, and spattered onto her legs of her plugsuit as if she was breathing air. Rei Ayanami never cried…until now. She had known sadness, known sorrow, but only now was she expressing it._

 _The Angel Armisael had told her some hard truths as it invaded her body, her heart, and her soul. That while part of her still longed for Shinji, more of her longed for Harry Potter, and claimed that the boy would go home, and forget about her._

 _She heard Gendo ordering that EVA Unit 01 be launched, as Asuka was still having trouble synchronising with hers. "Why for her?" Asuka whimpered. "Am I really that useless?"_

No, Asuka, _Rei thought to herself. After the previous Angel, Harry had practically forced the three of them to talk. It had been difficult, but Asuka, having been broken down by Arael, was handed the pieces to put back together. Rei still didn't like the Second Child, but she wanted to help her have a chance. She pitied the Second Child, and hoped that she would find some happiness. The same with Shinji._

 _But as EVA Unit 01 emerged, Armisael attacked. Rei glared as it tried to infect Unit 01 just as it was infecting her, bulging veins throbbing along her skin, showing up even under the plugsuit. No. It would not take anyone but herself. Not Shinji, not Asuka, and not Harry! No more! She was replaceable. Harry would soon learn that._

 _With an effort of will, she drew Armisael back into her EVA, holding it in. It was painful, and it was even more of a violation of her mind and body, even as it screamed at her, but she managed it._

 _Twisting around in the seat, she began activating procedures she knew she shouldn't have to activate. And soon, the self-destruct sequence activated. She heard Major Katsuragi screaming at her to evacuate, to leave the entry plug._

 _"No…" Rei said in a pained whisper. "If I leave the entry plug, the A.T Field will cease to be. Need it…to keep the Angel in…"_

 _She heard so many people screaming her name in anguish. Shinji. Gendo. Misato. Even Asuka. And of course, Harry._

 _Suddenly, there was a muffled_ wump! _within the entry plug, and she felt what seemed like a blow from the pressure in the LCL suddenly changing. And Harry was there in the entry plug with her, gagging on the LCL, veins beginning to bulge on his face._

 _"Harry, no…" she murmured, as he reached for her. She noticed he looked at the countdown clock for the self-destruct, before, a split-second before everything went, she felt an extraordinarily unpleasant squeezing sensation, as if she was toothpaste being pushed from a tube._

* * *

 _In NERV HQ, the screens whited out in a blizzard of a blast that might as well have been nuclear as EVA Unit 00 exploded. But before the shocked onlookers could say anything, there was a_ crack! _noise, like a gunshot or a whip, and suddenly, Harry reappeared, his clothes soaked in LCL, and he was coughing the amber breathable liquid up. So too was Rei, still clad in the skintight plugsuit._

 _Ritsuko was the first to recover from their shock. "Stay back! They may still be contaminated by the Angel! Get the hazard crew up here now, and get them both to containment!" She turned to the bridge crew. "What of the Angel?"_

 _"Gone…along with Unit 00," Maya said quietly. "We'll need to confirm, but…"_

 _"…Then this operation is over," Misato said quietly. "We need to recover Shinji, and whatever we can salvage from Unit 00."_

* * *

 _"Report," Gendo said, some hours afterwards, just outside the quarantine area._

 _Ritsuko looked through the glass into the area, where Harry and Rei lay on their beds, the latter still in her plugsuit. "No bio-contamination," she said. "Nothing residual, anyway. Once the Angel perished with Unit 00, the biofusion reversed itself. They should be fine given rest."_

 _"No, Doctor," Gendo said. "Rei perished from internal trauma from the advanced biofusion. We need to activate a back-up."_

 _Ritsuko blinked. "Sir?"_

 _"You heard me, Doctor. We cannot afford to have any contamination of Rei. Physiological or psychological."_

 _Ritsuko tried to figure out what he meant, before she said, "Do you mean…kill her, and not bother with an updated memory back-up?"_

 _"We are on the same page then, Dr Akagi."_

 _Ritsuko stared at her commander and lover, before laughing sardonically, a cracked, braying sound. "You're jealous of him, aren't you? Jealous of the boy who is winning the heart of your little Yui substitute!"_

 _"Dr Akagi, I gave you an order. Follow through on it, or the next time the old men want a scapegoat, I'll throw you to them," Gendo said with a glare._

 _As Gendo stormed off, Ritsuko sneered. SEELE were a bunch of old men, desiring immortality. Gendo used everyone he could just to get back together with his wife. So what did Ritsuko want?_

 _She chuckled as a thought occurred to her. She would follow part of his orders. But he wouldn't need to know what she intended to do._

* * *

"So, you're a genetically engineered hybrid of human and some weird alien called an Angel?" Hermione asked, tilting her head quizzically as she looked at Rei.

"Yes. My primary genetic donor for human material was Dr Yui Ikari. I am effectively her daughter, in many regards," Rei said, her hands folded demurely as they spoke in a living room. It was one of the few rooms in 12 Grimmauld Place that was relatively clear of dark artifacts and curses.

"So, the albinism is caused by that?"

"Partially, though that was because I was engineered. All magic users on your world seem to be Nephilim of some sort, slightly hybridised with Angelic tissue. However, you use your abilities differently. For example…" She held her hand out in front of her, and briefly, with a noise like a musical chime, a brief strobe of orange, concentric octagons appeared.

The eyes of those present widened. "What was that?" Lupin asked.

"A manifestation of an A.T Field," Yui said. "A.T stands for 'Absolute Territory', though some people call it 'Absolute Terror'(1). Think of it as the boundary of your ego, your soul. The event horizon that separates you from another person. In Nephilim, Evangelions, and Angels, this boundary can be shaped and projected in a variety of ways, though a shield is the common use in Nephilim, Evangelions, and Angels. During Impact events, Anti-A.T Fields are projected, effectively liberating the soul, while reducing the body to its component chemicals." She ran a hand through her brown hair sheepishly. "Speaking as someone who actually went through a similar process voluntarily, I can say it's not really pleasant. I just wish my husband followed my plans. Sorry about that, Shinji."

Shinji nodded, frowning. "I know your life was threatened by SEELE, it's just…"

"I know, darling," Yui said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I wanted to give the part of humanity that wanted a fresh start a new future within Evangelion on another world, and the rest the chance to rebuild the world. SEELE and Gendo didn't want that. Then again, I guess this outcome works too. At least now we get to be together, instead of you having to pilot me as the massive doombot."

"And you're Harry's…girlfriend?" Ginny asked, her eyes narrowing as she asked this of Rei.

Rei's eyes met Ginny's own. "I believe that is acceptable nomenclature." Her hand grasped Harry's. "I saw his memories of you. You are fortunate that he went to save you from Riddle. You should not have suffered a fate like that. I know all too well what it is like to have one's soul violated."

Ginny blinked at what seemed to be an expression of sympathy from the pale girl. Her own expression softened. "How do you know?" she asked, out of curiosity more than anger.

"Harry saved me from a not dissimilar situation. An Angel called Armisael was trying to fuse with me and my Evangelion Unit. I had to force a self-destruct while containing Armisael to save Shinji from a similar fate. But in order to contain the Angel, I needed to remain within the Evangelion Unit. I was prepared to die, partly because I knew my soul could be put into a new body. Harry managed to save me with…I believe you call it Apparition. We got out at the last moment before the Evangelion Unit exploded, and took the Angel with it." Her hand squeezed Harry's own. "I returned the favour when my would-be father tried to use me to trigger Third Impact." She shuddered at the memory. "Harry came just in time to give me the strength of will to reject Gendo, and… _ascend_."

"Still gave us the traumatic image of you, naked, and kilometres tall," Misato remarked. "Plus, briefly getting turned into goop. Then again, I was dead at the time, so I guess I can't complain about being alive again."

"I thought you couldn't bring back the dead with magic," Lupin said, frowning.

"I was in a state of existence where I could, as long as they were either Angelic in origin, like Kaworu, or else recently dead, say within the past few hours. I was effectively a deity, a fusion of Adam and Lilith. I still am. The power…frightens me." She shuddered.

"Rei…" Harry said, gently shifting his hand so that he could squeeze hers gently, reciprocating what she had done.

Lupin scowled. "That they would do that to children…turn them into pilots of those Evangelion monstrosities…" He looked at Misato and Yui. "Why would you allow that?"

"If I could have piloted EVA, I would have done so gladly," Misato said. "I had a personal score to settle with the Angels, as I was there at ground zero of Second Impact, the only survivor of my father's expedition to Antarctica who had been still there. But only those born after Second Impact could pilot the EVA Units. Or a pilot genetically engineered like Rei. If you want a detailed explanation, I'll set you onto Ritsuko."

"As for why I allowed it, I allowed myself to be absorbed into EVA to better protect Shinji. My father couldn't protect me from the rest of SEELE, who wanted me dead for my opposition to their plans. Unfortunately, Gendo fouled it up. And I couldn't do much because my mind was mostly subsumed by that of the Evangelion Unit," Yui said. "Mr Lupin, your moral outrage does you credit. But Second Impact was Hell on Earth. And Third Impact would have been even worse. I saw the wars, and wept that I couldn't stop SEELE from starting it all. Misato saw Antarctica just _go away_ , massive wings of light blasting from what was once the South Pole. She was catatonic for years, unable to speak. That's how bad it was."

Ron shook his head. "That's messed up."

"To say the least, Ronniekins," Fred remarked. "The end of the world, giants used as weapons, and Harry getting himself an exotic girlfriend."

"Indeed, Gred," George said. "It must be a sign of the end times here too."

"Please don't say that," Misato said. "I've already lived through one Apocalypse, I don't want another brought about by you tempting fate."

"Miss Katsuragi, those two are inveterate pranksters and agents of chaos," Hermione said. "If there was a button marked 'THIS WILL CAUSE THE APOCALYPSE: DO NOT TOUCH', they'd press it just to see what happened."

Misato and Rei shared a look. "Israfel?" Misato asked.

"Israfel," Rei confirmed.

"Israfel?" the twins asked simultaneously.

"Twin Angels," Shinji elucidated. "They were…troublesome. Asuka and I had to basically kill them with synchronised dancing."

"You can't be serious," Sirius said, before wincing, realising that he had walked right into it.

"I believe you were Sirius," Rei said, completely deadpan. Only Harry noticed the slight merry twinkle of her crimson eyes. Sirius groaned, while Lupin chuckled, along with a few of the others present.

After the laughter died down, Harry said, "So, what's going to happen this year?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"Well, every year I've been at Hogwarts, something bad happens. First year, Quirrellmort. Second year, the basilisk and the diary. Third year, Pettigrew and the Dementors. Fourth year, the Tri-Wizard Tournament. What's next this year?"

"Interference from the Ministry at the very least," Lupin said. "Rumour has it that Fudge wants to put a trusted underling in Hogwarts, probably teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'd bet money on it being the Umbitch."

"The Umbitch?" Hermione asked.

"Dolores Umbridge," Lupin clarified. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, and one of the biggest blood purists you'll ever have the misfortune to meet. Not a Death Eater as far as I know, but she detests half-breeds and magical beings who aren't human…or Muggles. She drafted major anti-werewolf legislation that makes it almost impossible for me to get work."

"Harry spoke highly of you," Misato said. "A shame they treat you like shit. The way he said it, it was more like a really dangerous illness that affects you every month. Then again, I know a lot of people who didn't exactly have normal lives. Anyway, you reckon this Umbridge woman might try to exert more control over Hogwarts?"

"Unless Dumbledore can find another DADA teacher on short notice, and even then, Umbridge may still be installed as High Inquisitor. On paper, that basically means an auditor, but in practise, she'll be able to throw her weight around. She's apparently the one dripping poison into Fudge's ears about Dumbledore, and she may have an agenda against Harry too, as Dumbledore can be attacked through Harry."

"She can try," Rei said. "But an attack on Harry is an attack on me. And I will take umbrage…if Umbridge takes umbrage…"

Harry stared at Rei in shock. Not because of the devotion she showed to him. It was just the sheer amount of puns she had just said, completely deadpan. But he was heartened by her declaration all the same. And he knew that the rest of his friends would help him too, given the looks on their faces. Sirius, Remus…Misato, Yui, Shinji…Ginny, Fred, George…Ron and Hermione. He knew they would stand with him. To the bitter end. Though he hoped it wouldn't come to that…

 **CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **More discussion about coming events, and an insight into events late in Harry's stay in the** ** _Evangelion_** **universe.**

 **1\. I think 'Absolute Territory' would be a better term than 'Absolute Terror'. Yes, I have heard (thanks to TV Tropes) of a different kind of 'Absolute Territory'. Which was apparently inspired by the term 'A.T Field'. So anyway, my personal fanon is that, despite the title sequence showing what it stands for, 'A.T' stands for 'Absolute Territory', that is, the boundary between one person and another.**


	7. Chapter 6: Trains of Thought - Luna, the

**CHAPTER 6:**

 **TRAINS OF THOUGHT/LUNA, THE LATERAL**

 _Harry couldn't believe what he was doing. Shortly after he had saved Rei from the Angel, Ritsuko had come in with a strange thing like a coronet, which she placed on Rei's head. She then told Harry and Rei to trust her. Rei seemed to understand what she meant, but begged Harry not to view her any differently._

 _Then, Ritsuko injected Rei with an overdose of some sort of drug. As Rei died, Harry wanted nothing more than to beat Ritsuko up, until she said eight words that stopped him._

 _"That was the second time Rei has died."_

 _Rei had suddenly dissolved into LCL, only a glowing red orb remaining. Ritsuko then helped Harry to his feet, pocketing the coronet, and putting the orb carefully into a specimen jar. "I'm showing Shinji and you this, because you need to understand what that bastard is trying to do. Did you know he wanted me to kill her, because he's jealous of Rei's feelings for you?"_

 _"Do you mean Gendo?" Harry asked._

 _"Of course. Shinji will be waiting for us. He deserves to know."_

 _Misato was there too, holding Ritsuko up at a heavy security door. Ritsuko decided to show her anyway, taking them down in an elevator into Terminal Dogma, and the secrets down there._

 _They passed through graveyards of Evangelion skeletons, little more than dumping grounds, mass graves filled with massive remains. A dingy room not unlike Rei's apartment. And finally, a massive circular chamber, with a cylinder of LCL in the middle, connected to a brain-like apparatus in the ceiling. Ritsuko busied herself with connecting the coronet to a computer system next to the cylinder._

 _Harry had a bad feeling about this. "What does this have to do with Rei?" Harry asked. "You said she had died already!"_

 _"Indeed I did," Ritsuko said. "In your world, Harry, you have met ghosts, and your nemesis regained his body. Is it so hard to believe that Rei has her own method of cheating death?"_

 _"Rei's nothing like Voldemort!" Harry snapped angrily._

 _"From what you have told me, you are correct, in terms of demeanour. But like you, Harry, Rei Ayanami is part-Angel, a Nephilim. But unlike you, being a natural-born Nephilim, Rei was engineered." Her eyes flickered over to Shinji. "And the prime human donor was your mother, Shinji."_

 _"…My mother?"_

 _"Yui Ikari. A brilliant scientist. And the true creator of Evangelion. Your father did little, save to create the Dummy Plugs. This is where we manufacture the components." She then activated her PDA, and lights went on all around within the walls…_

 _…which turned out to be the inside of a tank, surrounding them. And within them, giggling and smiling vacuously, was Rei. Dozens of identical copies of Rei. Naked, breathing LCL, their hair moving like seaweed as they floated serenely in the liquid._

 _As Shinji and Harry stared in horror, Misato murmured, "These are the Dummy Plugs?"_

 _"Components, as well as spare bodies for Rei. Leftovers from an attempt to create an artificial Evangelion pilot. But that isn't all. Evangelions are born from Adam, the God that Man discovered, coveted, and thus tried to possess. Second Impact resulted, punishment for Man's hubris. But in order to work, Evangelions need a human soul to interface between the mind of the beast, and the pilot."_

 _"My mother…" Shinji murmured, remembering what Harry told him after the attack by Zeruel._

 _"Indeed," Ritsuko said. "Attachment is why it works. Your soul has a gaping wound that cries out for anything to fill it." Her eyes roved over the Rei clones in the tank, and gave a grim smile. "Ah, there she is." Activating another function on her PDA, Ritsuko and the others watched as one of the Rei clones, who looked more sombre than the rest, was plucked by machinery into a tube, a tube that led to the one in the middle of the room. She looked over the readings, and nodded, before activating something on the PDA. "This is her."_

 _"I don't get it, what happened?" Harry asked. "What did you put on her head?"_

 _"A compact memory recorder. There is a difference between the memories stored within the brain, and the soul itself. Rei's soul was channelled here, into the next available clone, but she would lack any memories that she didn't have backed up, like files on a computer. I only recorded the most recent memories, and even then, they may be a bit hazy. She usually comes here to do a back-up." Ritsuko went over to the tube in the middle, and put her hand on the tank. Rei's eyes had closed, her eyes twitching beneath the lids as she regained her memories. "Gendo wanted her killed and revived with only the back-up available down here. He was jealous of you, Harry."_

 _Soon, Rei's memories were implanted, and Ritsuko drained the tank. Harry helped her help Rei out of the tube, as she hacked up the breathable liquid that this body had breathed its entire life. But any fears of amnesia were unfounded, as Rei looked up into Harry's eyes, and whispered, "Harry…" Then, she looked at the others. "Shinji…Major…Dr Akagi…"_

 _Misato, who seemed shaken by the revelation that Rei was part-Angel, nonetheless shook her head, and embraced her, as did Shinji. Ritsuko dispassionately shooed them away while she towelled Rei down, and then handed her a dressing gown. She then looked at the clone bodies. "Rei…it's up to you. Immortality and being controlled? Or mortality, and freedom?" She handed Rei the PDA, and Harry saw that it had a 'dissolution' option._

 _He realised Ritsuko was giving Rei the choice to destroy her clones. To die repeatedly, only to wake up again in a new body. Many would consider that a blessing, but Rei seemed to view it as a curse._

 _After a moment, she made her decision._

* * *

With Ron and Hermione off on their duties as prefects, Harry was now in the last carriage of the Hogwarts Express, along with Ginny, Neville, Kaworu, and Rei. And, in addition, a girl he had never met before, whom Ginny introduced as Luna Lovegood. Blonde hair, protuberant eyes, and reading a magazine upside down. A strange girl, though the Nephilim looked stranger. In order to give enough room to the others, Kaworu elected to stand.

Neville was relieved to find Harry still alive, but there were many Harry noticed throughout the train who stared at him with astonishment, as if unable to believe their eyes…and suspicion. He had been warned that rumours still persisted that he had killed Cedric, and while they weren't as persistent as those of his being abducted, the truth was that a few thought that way.

Thankfully, the Diggorys weren't amongst them. Dumbledore had arranged a meeting with them, and Harry told them what he could. Even so, it had been awkward, to say the least.

Luna looked at the two Nephilim, and then at Harry. "Where are their wings?" she asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Did they leave their wings at home?" Luna asked, peering at Rei and Kaworu. "Or did they burn away like those of Icarus'?"

Kaworu smirked a little, once he got over his bemusement. "That's a rather personal question, Miss Lovegood."

"I never miss. Well, save for people. Like my mother. I miss her," Luna said, her face becoming downcast for a moment. Then, as swiftly as it had assumed that sombre look, it was back to her dreamy smile. Harry was reminded a little of the vacant smiles of the Rei clones, though at least Luna was alive in a way that they never would be. "The lights of your souls look beautiful."

"Thanks?" Rei said, looking surprised, an expression unaccustomed to being on her face.

"Do you mean their A.T Fields?" Harry asked.

"Another name for the collection. The light of the soul, the essence of magic…call it what you will. Nomenclature is such a strange thing."

"How do you know these things, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"I see quite a lot that others fail to," Luna said simply.

"So who are these two, Harry? Are these the people you met in Japan?" Neville asked.

"Yes. Rei Ayanami, and Kaworu Nagisa, the only magic users in the organisation I worked with for a time. Given that they can't go back home, well, Dumbledore said they can come to Hogwarts."

"So, which house?" Ginny asked.

Kaworu smiled. "Given what Harry has said about the Houses, I would probably be in Ravenclaw, as I enjoy learning, particularly music. Perhaps Gryffindor at a stretch."

"Ravenclaw," Rei said quietly. "Or else Hufflepuff."

"Why would you be in Hufflepuff?" Ginny asked the Nephilim.

"She is intensely loyal to people," Harry explained. "I was lucky to gain that loyalty. Her father wanted to use her to gain power in a dark ceremony. She rejected him."

Rei nodded. "But I enjoy learning too, so Ravenclaw is a possibility." She pulled a book out of her bag, a favourite on genetic engineering.

Luna lowered her magazine, and cocked her head quizzically upon seeing the book. "That is somewhat advanced."

"Wait, you know what that is?" Ginny asked.

"Genetic engineering. Think a slow, Muggle version of permanent biological Transfiguration. That would be on a university level normally by their standards."

"I enjoy reading," Rei said quietly.

"How do you know this, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"I enjoy reading," Luna replied.

Soon, Ron and Hermione came back, though not before Cho Chang stopped by in a rather awkward scene. Harry remembered that she had been dating Cedric, and he had been infatuated with her at the time. After Ron and Hermione got back, Ron began complaining about Malfoy being made a prefect. Harry got an opportunity to flick through the _Quibbler_ , Luna's magazine, after Ron made a joke about Goyle doing lines.

It was the wizarding equivalent of the tabloid press, he realised, full of strange conspiracies and stories. He handed it back to Luna, politely saying it wasn't his taste. She seemed disappointed, but mentioned that it was her father's magazine.

And then, the door opened to reveal a familiar blonde boy, flanked by his minions. "And it is the Annual Obligation Appearance of Draco Malfoy, now Slytherin Prefect, and his associates, Messrs Crabbe and Goyle," Harry remarked wearily, not even looking at them.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," Malfoy drawled.

"You must be Draco Malfoy," Kaworu said, his perpetual smile becoming a little fixed. "Your reputation precedes you."

"And you are?" Draco asked. "Oh, right, the foreign students."

"I am Kaworu Nagisa, and this lovely young lady is Rei Ayanami, I believe you know these others, so introductions are over. If you are here for any other reason that your official duties as prefect, then I suggest that you kindly vacate this compartment forthwith."

"Excuse me, but I believe I am the prefect here, not you," Draco said haughtily. "I believe that I am in charge here, and I believe that I will stay."

Rei sighed gently. Then, a black hole seemed to appear underneath Draco and his goons' feet, and they vanished into it with a yelp.

Kaworu raised an eyebrow. "Leliel?"

"Leliel."

"The Angel of the Night," Luna observed, giggling at Malfoy's sudden disappearance.

Hermione frowned. "What did you do?"

"I opened up a temporary portal that sent them into a carriage further up the train," Rei explained quietly. "I seem to have acquired the powers of the Angels. If he annoys me further, perhaps I should use Arael's power on him."

Harry winced. On the one hand, he wasn't sure anyone deserved to have their mind peeled apart layer by layer like an onion. On the other hand…it was _Malfoy_. A posing ponce who was worse than Asuka: for all her elitist airs and her obnoxious nature, she at least had skill to back up her talk, and it was bad luck and the machinations of SEELE and Gendo Ikari that had conspired to thwart her ability to pilot Evangelion. Malfoy could do with some forced introspection.

To take his mind off that matter, Harry pondered what Houses would the pilots be in? At a guess, Harry would have put Asuka in either Gryffindor, or Slytherin. She had the recklessness and impulsiveness for the former, and the cunning and ambition for the latter. She'd certainly raise the standards there. Maybe Ravenclaw as well, given that she boasted of having completed university degrees. Shinji would probably go into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Shinji reminded Harry a lot of Neville in his apparent lack of bravery, but his willingness to head into danger to help others. And he had a quiet intelligence, understated, that would do well in Ravenclaw. Touji was a tricky one. Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, he reckoned. His loyalty to his sister and his friends was scary, but he was also brave, if impulsive.

"Rei," Neville said, breaking Harry's train of thought, "please don't take this the wrong way, but you're scary."

"You should've seen her when she piloted the big bloody robot," Harry remarked wryly.

* * *

"It was so good of you to accept this position on such short notice," Dumbledore said as he and his new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher strode down the corridors. "Fudge is already railing against you."

"Let him. And his toad-like toady. Your Potions Master was most helpful, though. I haven't had to learn that many new things so swiftly since university. He's a snide, bitter little man, but he knows his stuff. Hogwarts has had to get by on a mixture of bad and good Defence teachers." Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu gave a smirk not unlike her daughter. "Wait till they get a load of me…"

 **CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Rei and Kaworu are on their way to becoming students, Dumbledore has obtained a DADA teacher at the last moment, and Malfoy got owned. The last one's always funny, isn't it?**

 **Also, I hope you liked that different version of the scene where Ritsuko reveals the truth about Rei. I discussed my reasoning for her characterisation in the annotations for Chapter 3, so if you have any problems, consult there first.**

 **Review-answering time!** **ww1990ww** **: If wizards got smart, or else banded together, they could decimate an army. I just get sick and tired of the cliché in fanfic that the British Army or some other military force can walk right over the wizards. A wizard is a one-man army unto himself, and I reckon that if Voldemort took the time to teach his followers about Muggle weapons (keep in mind Tom grew up in the Second World War), then they'd do scarily well, especially if they used Apparition to move around and dodge the gunfire. Plus, Shield Charms.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	8. Chapter 7: Sorted Out- A Welcome, Of

**CHAPTER 7:**

 **SORTED OUT/A WELCOME, OF SORTS**

 _"You spoke to her, didn't you?" Rei asked._

 _Harry, after a while, nodded. They were sitting at the edge of a lake in the Geofront, shortly after Zeruel's attack. Harry, after reforming within Unit 01, had gone to Rei's Unit, and had helped her out. Now, they were sitting by the lakeside, Harry's clothes still stained by LCL, and Rei still clad in her plugsuit. Shinji was currently being debriefed by Misato, and was being reassigned Unit 01, even after his (admittedly justified) conniption. If Harry had been in Unit 01 at the time, he would have probably done the same thing, given what Gendo had ordered._

 _"Rei…why did you use such an attack?" Harry asked. "It was…suicide."_

 _"The Angels must be stopped at all costs," Rei said, though he was used to her enough by now to know that she was hiding something._

 _Harry scooted over to her, and put an arm around her shoulder. The plugsuits, he realised, weren't just skintight: they were almost as thin as lycra. They certainly left little to the imagination, especially on Rei, and he forced himself not to look at her attractive body. He could actually feel her body warmth underneath the plugsuit. She stiffened briefly at the contact, before relaxing. "Rei…there's things worth dying for…but suicidal attacks are the last resort, not the first resort. Even if Unit 00's arms were messed up by…Bardiel? Isn't that what you called the thing that infected Unit 03?"_

 _She nodded. "…I am worried about Shinji. What the Commander did to him…I have never thought this way about Commander Ikari…but it was wrong. Shinji should have fought back more…but more of an effort should have been made to retrieve Suzuhara with a minimum of injury."_

 _"Why do you think he slipped and fell when he left the Command Centre?" Harry asked. "A nice little spell did that trick. It's more than he deserved, frankly. I wanted to kill him. Only his goons' guns kept me back. And it's only thanks to me and Misato that Shinji even wanted to stay at NERV. Oh, and Kaji. But in a way, I'm glad he and Kaji were having a heart-to-heart when that monster attacked. I know you didn't do well trying to pilot Unit 01, but she accepted me. The thing is…how is Shinji going to react when he learns that his mother is in Unit 01?"_

 _"I do not know. I was told by the Commander that there might be an Impact event should you pilot an Evangelion Unit. It is good, then, that that was not the case."_

 _"Yeah, that'd suck, destroying the world when one's trying to save it," Harry said._

 _"Indeed." She smiled gently. "You are very kind, Harry. Before Shinji, and yourself, came along, I had little purpose, outside piloting the Evangelion, and…never mind. But I have…friends. Is that the correct term?"_

 _"I guess. I'll tell you something, Rei. Back home, I never got to make friends before I was 11. My relatives were nasty, spiteful people, who knew I could do magic. At 11, I learned I was not only a wizard, but I had been famous for something my parents probably had more to do with. They died at the hand of a wizard terrorist, Voldemort."_

 _"'Flight from death'?" Rei asked._

 _"Sorry?"_

 _"I know some French, in addition to Japanese, English, German, and some Latin._ Vol de mort _means 'flight from death'."_

 _"It wasn't his real name. He was born 'Tom Marvolo Riddle', and he switched the letters around, so it became 'I am Lord Voldemort'."_

 _He saw her think, rearranging the letters in her head, before nodding. "Conceited."_

 _"Yes. Anyway, I found I was famous, lots of people wanting to know me, to shake my hand, even though I knew nothing about it. And the same guy who killed my parents turned out to be at my school, seeking revenge. Oh, and the Philosopher's Stone. So I know a bit about isolation, and then being thrown into the deep end against a powerful enemy. Not quite as bad as the Angels, though."_

 _Rei, after a moment, did something unexpected. She snuggled a little closer to him. "…Tell me more about your life, Harry."_

* * *

 _Misato kept the recovery crews back. Besides the whole quarantine thing (Harry, after all, had turned to LCL for several minutes while at 400% synchronisation), there was the fact that she didn't want to ruin the moment. To her surprise, Ritsuko was looking on with a smirk on her face. Misato didn't know why Ritsuko had such a knowing, evil little smirk. At least until the bottle blonde scientist said_ , sotto voce, _to Misato, "The Commander is_ _ **not**_ _going to like Rei being so close to him."_

 _"They make a cute couple though, don't they?" Misato said._

 _Ritsuko only snickered at that remark._

* * *

Ritsuko and Yui Ikari examined the readouts on the laptop, Maya Ibuki hovering nearby. NERV, what parts of it weren't going to emigrate to Japan in this world, had set up a base of sorts underneath Hogwarts. Namely, in a place ominously designated the Chamber of Secrets.

Massive, dank, dark, and with a massive statue of a rather simian-looking man with a beard, said to be Salazar Slytherin, one of the four Founders of Hogwarts, and supposedly the nastiest one. Supposedly, he was the one who started the whole blood purity nonsense that went on to this day. Dumbledore, however, had his doubts: attacks on magicals were frequent at the time of Hogwarts' establishment, and it was perfectly possible that Slytherin's issues were more to do with Muggleborns possibly exposing them, through their parents. History did have a habit of being reshaped by various people to their own ends.

Earlier, the House Elves had cleared out a corpse of a massive snake, a Basilisk. Apparently the poison alone was a prized potion ingredient, and Harry and Dumbledore, realising they could exploit it, agreed to sell what they could off, and donate it to the school. Misato shuddered at the thought of the massive snake. Most of the Angels were massive in size, true, and scary as hell, but there was something about a snake, smaller than the average Angel but still large and with an incredibly lethal gaze, that sparked a more primal fear in her.

Misato, meanwhile, was testing out the acoustics of the chamber, with Shigeru Aoba strumming a guitar Dumbledore got out of storage, and Shinji playing a cello. She was singing _The Man Who Sold the World_ by David Bowie. "She's got a lovely singing voice," Yui remarked.

"When she hasn't been drinking, yes," Ritsuko said. "Believe me, there was one time I came to her in her apartment, just after Harry arrived. Misato was giving him a welcome party, but when I got there, she was singing _Bohemian Rhapsody_. And not well, either. If we recorded that, we could have weaponised it against the Angels. She got this weird obsession with old rock songs after she came out of her catatonic state. I remember walking in on her and Kaji once. They were having sex to another song by Queen: _Don't Stop Me Now_."

Yui laughed, shaking her head. "Anyway, these results are interesting, aren't they?"

"Yes. I designed the refinements to this program myself, Dr Ikari," Maya said, eager to please as always. "Even so, look at all those Blood Type Blues. If this was NERV, there'd be a full-blown panic. So the wizards and witches…they are basically human-Angel hybrids, like Rei and Kaworu. But more than that, they are completely stable, whereas Rei and Kaworu were, until we came here, metastable."

"It comes from our crude attempts at hybridising humans and Angelic matter," Ritsuko said, lighting up a cigarette. "Keep in mind that, even with SEELE and the Dead Sea Scrolls, our understanding of the Angels was pretty poor. That we got successful hybrids in the first place is astonishing, even if Rei had to take medicine regularly to prevent her own AT Field from failing. Or worse." Ritsuko tapped the screen. "And yet, above our heads, we have hundreds of such hybrids, born naturally. We have no idea how both Adam and Lilith combined to create these people, and we probably won't know for a long time, if at all. But nature found a way better than human technology managed, and without causing Impact to boot. This, ladies, is what science is about: surprises and discoveries."

"Indeed. My husband sneered at that," Yui said. "'Discovery may be joy, but knowledge is power'. Of course, that was Keel's philosophy Gendo was aping, bearded little sycophant. He basically meant scientists were in it purely for prestige and self-gratification. I'll admit, far too many are like that. But for some, discovering something new is gratification enough."

"How well will Dr Sohryu go down as a new teacher with these people?" Maya asked.

"Frankly?" Ritsuko asked. "She's going to make a lot of enemies. We're lucky that Tall, Dark, and Snarky helped her. As it is, that Batrachian Bitch is going to make it harder. Ditto the Slytherins: too many buy into that blood purity rubbish. But Asuka got her fire from her mother. Why do you think Kyoko losing part of her mind in Unit 02 affected her daughter so much?"

* * *

It was an odd journey, even from the railway station at Hogsmeade. Harry found, all of a sudden, that he could see the once-invisible horses that pulled the carriages. Rei and Kaworu could as well, as did Neville and Luna. Luna identified them, to Hermione's scepticism, as Thestrals. They were sinister-looking things, like emaciated, almost reptilian horses.

Then, shortly after arriving, Rei and Kaworu were taken away by McGonagall, who said she needed to have them at the Sorting, after the First Years. And when they got into the Great Hall, Harry noticed that Hagrid was completely absent (he had been from where the First Years were taken to as well). Unfortunately, the woman he was warned about, Umbridge, was sitting there.

Harry had to admit, the descriptions Lupin had given him were accurate: she looked like a toad, turned into a human, and dressed in eye-watering pink. He also didn't fail to notice the venomous look she shot his way. He just stared back, blandly, taking a leaf out of Rei's book.

Sitting next to her was Kyoko, along with Asuka. Apparently Asuka was going to be Kyoko's teaching assistant on occasion, as well as helping Charity Burbage with Muggle Studies. There was actually nothing in the Hogwarts rules (or in the laws governing Magical Britain) that prevented a Muggle from working at Hogwarts: they did have a Squib working here, in the ornery form of Argus Filch.

The Sorting Hat was brought out, and sang a rather ominous song. Harry rolled his eyes somewhat. Unity between the four Houses was a near-impossibility. Even excluding Slytherin, there were issues on occasion between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.

The First Years were soon Sorted, and then, McGonagall made an announcement. "We have two transfer students: Miss Rei Ayanami, and Mister Kaworu Nagisa. Under the rules of Hogwarts, they will now be sorted into their appropriate Houses."

* * *

Rei felt the tickle of the Sorting Hat at her mind. "Hmm. Very interesting. My dear girl, you've had a sad life, but also one filled with a quiet bravery. Once, you thought your life had no value, but now…hmm, and I sense your love for Mr Potter. You embody the qualities of many a House. Where would you like to go?"

 _I like to learn. Ravenclaw, please_.

"So decisive. Sure you don't want Gryffindor, to be with your love? And it suits you, because you are truly valorous. Godric would have been proud. Ah, but you two have a bond that can transcend the House divide, even if it isn't so bad between those two. Very well. If you're sure, better be…RAVENCLAW!"

Rei stood, gently removing the Sorting Hat from her head, before she strode to the Ravenclaw table. Luna had saved her a space near her, so Rei sat down there. Kaworu also went to Ravenclaw in short order, sitting down next to her. They were introduced to Cho Chang (a bit less awkwardly than on the train) and her friend, Marietta Edgecomb. They seemed curious as to how these two came to Hogwarts, and how they came to know Harry. Not to mention their albinism.

Rei noted how Umbridge interrupted Dumbledore in the middle of his opening speech, and made some meandering speech about nothing, full of excrement. But the woman was dangerous, and Rei noticed the glares she was giving Pilot Sohryu and her mother.

She wasn't fond of these cumbersome robes, either. Truth be told, she preferred her school uniform, or the skintight simplicity of the plugsuit. Of course, those were amongst the only things she ever wore, but she wore for comfort and convenience, not out of aesthetics or effect.

Given Harry's interest in her, though, she was interested in what clothing items that would be mutually liked. She'd had discussions with Pilot Sohryu on the matter, and while they disagreed on more than a few things, Asuka had some valid points to make. It would be interesting to see Harry's reaction to her in a skimpy bikini. Though he had seen her naked: a couple of dozen of her naked, to boot. Maybe the reaction would be lessened. Then again, considering the circumstances…

She thought about what she had with Harry. Was it truly love? Attraction, she couldn't deny. But love? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that, thanks to the pseudo-Instrumentality she had put him through (followed not long afterwards by the rest of NERV), they had shared an intimacy not even lovers had achieved. She had seen his life, and he hers. And for all their decision to hold back on sexual intimacy until later in their lives, they sometimes…made out, she believed the colloquialism was. It was pleasant.

She thought of the time at the lake in the Geofront, just after the attack by Zeruel. The first time they had been intimate to any degree, even if it was only a comforting hug and an exchange of words. The day when the seeds of…love? Maybe. Anyway, when those seeds were sown on that day. Before then, he had been an intriguing curiosity. A novel thing. Armisael later pointed out that she wanted to be one, heart and soul, with Harry. If that was love, then she was in love.

She noticed Umbridge glaring at her. Rei stared impassively back. Umbridge blinked and looked away first. A very small part of Rei cheered and wrote on a scoreboard: _REI: 1. TOAD: 0_.

Even so, the fighting was yet to begin. Rei and Kaworu's red eyes and pale skin were already provoking comment. Voldemort was said to have red eyes and pale skin, though at least some in Ravenclaw knew about albinism.

Rei cared not about their comments. She knew that there was going to be a battle within the walls of Hogwarts, a battle of ideologies. And she intended to make sure Harry survived it…

 **CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Just some more Harry and Rei fluff, plus the Sorting. Both Angels in Ravenclaw, people.**

 **I'm also surprised at how ridiculously popular this fic has become: nearly 11K views in less than a month. It's also the second largest crossover between Harry Potter and** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **.**

 **Review-answering time! Firstly, shut up about the wizards versus soldiers thing. You don't like my assessment? Tough.**

 **Anyway, now onto** **diagonalpumpkin** **: Gendo's a Grade-A bastard. In the manga, he gets too good an ending. So I'm glad you like his more ignominious end. As for Rei using Ramiel's power to wipe out the Death Eaters…well, let's just say it'll be more interesting than that.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	9. Chapter 8: Taking Umbridge- The Best

**CHAPTER 8:**

 **TAKING UMBRIDGE/THE BEST DEFENCE…**

 _It was after the battle with Armisael. After the massive explosion that turned most of Tokyo-3 into a crater, now a lake. Four teenagers were sitting by that lake, staring out at it. The two boys had dark hair, one of the girls had short blue hair, and the other had longer red hair._

 _Asuka stared bleakly at the setting sun. "…Am I really that useless?" she murmured._

 _"Asuka, piloting the Evangelion's not the whole of your life," Harry said. "You've got a degree. Besides…at least you know now who's in your EVA Unit."_

 _"Yes…Mama…but…it's hard to let her in. Even after Arael, I…" Her words caught in her throat. For the first time in a long time, Asuka Langley Sohryu was being honest about her feelings. "And even now…we all have had fucked-up lives. Shinji and I have lost our mothers to the Evangelions, have bastard fathers, and issues up the wazoo! Rei is a clone of Yui Ikari, and part-Angel! And you're some sort of part-Angel from another world where they are actually wizards and witches. Oh, and your parents were murdered by a magical Adolf Hitler and you were sent to live with bastard relatives." Asuka chuckled, a cracked sound. "How are we going to save the world, Merlin?"_

 _"One step at a time," Harry replied, his arm around Rei's shoulder. "Kaji's helped us, and Ritsuko is helping us too. We know what their game is. There's just one last Angel before SEELE would have to make their move."_

 _"And the Commander," Rei said quietly. "He intends to make me the key that unlocks the door to Instrumentality. But I am not his doll."_

 _Their quiet conversation was interrupted by the faint sound of humming, not far from them. Someone was humming Ode to Joy, Beethoven's famous music work. They soon found the source, walking a little bit along the shore of the crater-lake. Perched on the ruins of a statue that seemed vaguely angelic was a boy with grey hair and red eyes, a handsome, if slightly effeminate face._

 _Finishing humming the piece from Ode to Joy, he then turned his attention to his audience. "Songs and singing: the ultimate expression of joy. The epitome of Lilim culture."_

 _Harry and Rei were instantly on guard. For him to mention something like this, it meant knowledge of the Angels, more than most would know. Seemingly unperturbed, the boy gently hopped from the statue, and landed on the shore. "You're like us," Harry said. "Nephilim."_

 _"Indeed. You are rather perceptive, Harry Potter. The Zeroth Child, they are calling you," the teenager said. "We have a small gathering of Pilots here. Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Sohryu, and Rei Ayanami. Well, it would be most remiss of me not to introduce myself. I am Kaworu Nagisa. And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances…"_

* * *

Asuka thought back to that fateful first meeting with Kaworu. She wondered what he felt, knowing he was going to be forced to betray them, thanks to both an instinct to merge with Lilith, as well as measures SEELE put into place. She thought of how he made her feel wanted, and the betrayal she felt, until he had allowed Shinji to kill him.

Now she had a second chance with him. It was so weird that she was doing it in a school for wizards and witches.

She was unique in that she didn't have magic (she was called a Muggle, or else a Squib, as her mother was 'magical') but was in this school, albeit as an assistant to her mother. Unfortunately, this meant that the Slytherins were, for the most part, dubious of her ability at best, and at most, intending to attack her.

Thankfully, the first class for Defence Against the Dark Arts was today, and she intended to make an example. Of course, they would also have the Batrachian Bitch sitting in, she of the incessant throat clearing.

As they prepared for the class, Asuka conversed with her mother in German. " _Do you think the pink-clad toad's going to let you get through uninterrupted?_ "

" _Not at all. In fact, I expect her to make a fuss as soon as she arrives._ " The door opened, and Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu muttered, " _Speak of the devil, and she's at your shoulder._ "

"Ah, Mrs Sohryu…"

" _Professor_ Sohryu," Kyoko corrected firmly. "I am a teacher here."

"That remains to be seen. Now, I see that you have replaced the textbook I have assigned originally, and doubtless at great expense to the parents of these children. Why? The textbook I had assigned was perfectly adequate."

"No, it wasn't. Professor Snape, who is even more of an expert in the area than I, considered it to be…well, to put it delicately, a load of excrement."

"But there's no need to teach these children such things. My choice of curriculum…"

Kyoko sighed, before saying, "Shut up, please."

"How dare you! I am…"

"I know who you are. The question is, do you know who I am? My daughter and I have fought off things that make Voldemort look like a kitten."

"Are you saying that he's come back? Ridiculous. The Ministry would keep them safe even if it were true…"

"Assuming they could," Kyoko said.

"Assuming…listen here, you upstart…!"

"No, you listen. Let us assume that Voldemort is dead, forever. Looking back at history, he won't be the last Dark Lord to rise. Grindlewald, for example? How many people hoped he was the last Dark Lord, only to be proven wrong? And by assigning that trash, you only serve to hurt the very children who may yet become your next Aurors. Do you really want incompetent Aurors who can't do their jobs? I'm sure the Minister doesn't."

Umbridge's mouth opened and shut spasmodically, making her seem like a fish than a toad. Unable to find fault with Kyoko's point, she subsided sullenly. "And do you really think Voldemort is alive?"

"I have seen things that have allowed people to cheat death. I keep an open enough mind. In any case, it's irrelevant to the point at hand: that I be as good a teacher as possible."

"I'll be the judge of that," Umbridge said archly. "Especially as you have brought your Squib child to this."

Asuka smirked. "Well, better than the Minister sending his pet toad."

Umbridge instantly whipped out her wand, but Asuka was faster, moving so fast, Umbridge didn't realise that her wand was gone, until she saw Asuka tapping it against her palm. "Without your wand, I would bet that I could kick your sorry ass in ten different ways. This Squib child could have hurt you very badly." She then handed the wand back over, tempted though she was to snap it.

Fuming, but conceding the point with bad grace, Umbridge subsided. And just in time, for the first arrivals trickled in…

* * *

"Ooh, d'you think the red-headed devil just made an enemy?" Kensuke Aida said as he looked at the screen. Much of the NERV personnel remaining at Hogwarts were gathered around a monitor in the Chamber of Secrets. Kensuke had opted to make the trip over into this world. After all, while he was an otaku of the highest order when it came to military hardware, he also had a childlike wonder when it came to magic.

Shinji chuckled weakly. The Sohryus had brought in a video camera, EMP shielded, and it was amongst the detritus on the shelf behind the desk in the DADA classroom. "Asuka AND that toad woman seem to have a knack for making enemies. At least Asuka can be sincerely nice when she wants to be."

"Really?" his bespectacled friend demanded. "When?"

"Kensuke," Misato said chidingly. "Her mother hung herself when she was young. That does tend to cause psychological damage. Of course, so does piloting EVA against the Angels."

Lupin shook his head in wonder. The werewolf had made the trip out from 12 Grimmauld Place to see Umbridge get 'owned', as the children from this alternate future put it. Asuka snatching Umbridge's wand was a fairly minor one, but Kyoko's argument was an excellent one. Not that Umbridge could be swayed (properly) by a reasoned argument. Fudge may be, especially if the clink of money was involved. But Umbridge was an idiot and a bitch of the highest order. Oh, she was cunning, and knew how to get things done in administration, but she also believed that she was right, and everyone else was wrong, albeit dressing up her opinion as Fudge's.

"A pity I couldn't be in class with Hermione," Shinji mused. The boy had developed a slight crush on the bushy-haired girl during his stay at 12 Grimmauld Place. She had the same intelligence and stridency as Asuka, but toned down significantly. There was less of a domineering attitude, and she admitted her faults far more easily than the fiery redhead. Yui even subtly encouraged it.

"Don't worry, the Headmaster said we could meet them in Hogsmeade this weekend," Misato said. She was jotting down things on a sheet of paper. "I've been discussing things with Dumbledore. I swear, the man's a walking mass of contradictions. He's well-meaning, and he's very well aware of his faults, but he's as secretive as Gendo bloody Ikari was. But he's also a pacifist, and…"

"Wait, look, there's a good bit," Yui hissed. Misato looked up in time to see Asuka goad Draco Malfoy into pointing his wand at her, ostensibly as a demonstration of how a Muggle could defeat him. She dodged the spell he launched at her, and then rushed him, disarmed him, and pulled him to the ground in a series of expert martial arts moves. Almost everyone present cheered.

"Does this thing have replay?" Misato asked. "A shame we're a decade too early for YouTube(1). That'd be prime fodder for YouTube right there."

There was another round of laughter, though Lupin frowned. "YouTube?"

"You know what the internet is? Computers?"

"I know of computers," Lupin said. "Before NERV came along."

"Okay, well, the internet is basically a computer network. What we know as the internet is still in its infancy. And YouTube…"

"…is where they post all sorts of videos, usually of inane and banal things," Ritsuko said, even as she saved the video file of Asuka disarming Malfoy. She'd already saved one of Misato singing _The Man Who Sold the World_. At the very least, she could compile a Christmas Tape for NERV(2).

"Anyway, back to my original point," Misato said. "Dumbledore's a great believer in second chances. Unfortunately, he's also a bit too fond of chances beyond that. Frankly, I think the man's so afraid of his own power, he's afraid to wield it properly, lest he succumb to megalomania. And considering the titles he has, I'm not surprised he's afraid. Anyway, my point is, I think we have a means to take out Voldemort and his followers in one fell swoop."

"How is that, Misato? We no longer have the Evangelions, or much in the way of weapons beyond some handguns," Ritsuko asked.

"True, but we have debatably the most powerful entity on this planet on our side."

"Do you mean Rei?" Yui asked.

Misato nodded. "She told us not long after she arrived on that train that she probably has access to the powers of all the Angels, as she was able to use the spatial warping of Leliel. I'm probably asking a lot of her, but I think we might be able to use that against the Death Eaters. The question is…what? I'm noting down what I remember of the Angels' powers. And I don't want to see whether she's immune to this Killing Curse they have. What we need is a decisive attack. Once Voldemort and the majority of his minions are gone, then they can work on cleaning up this Blood Purity bullshit."

"It'll take a long time," Lupin said. "Those beliefs have been entrenched for centuries. Even now, I reckon Draco's planning on hexing Asuka when she least expects it." He nodded towards the screen. "You could probably reduce it down to a low level, but it's frankly xenophobia, and that seems to be universal in human beings, regardless of whether they have magic or not."

Misato nodded, before looking at the list of Angels and their powers. "So…should we start a betting pool? On how long before Rei uses Arael's powers on Malfoy and/or Snape?"

"Arael?"

"One of the few Angels that actually looked like an angel. Used a rather nasty attack that dealt psychological damage. Asuka ended up on the receiving end of that. Nearly sent her into a coma."

Lupin stared. "Is that Legilimency?"

"I dunno. My point is, Rei may look like someone who is frail and fragile and without emotion. In truth, she's anything but. She piloted a bigass giant robot with half of her soul in it against horrific monstrosities, she defied the man who created her, and she brought about an event that should have ended the world, but just brought us here." She looked once more at the screen. "The person who breaks that stoic shell in the wrong way will live to regret it, I guarantee."

Lupin looked at the fuming Umbridge on the screen, who was being ignored by the Sohryus. "…Can we add to the betting pool how long before this woman pisses Rei off?"

Misato looked at him, before cackling. "Lupin, great minds think alike…"

 **CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Just a bit of plotting with Misato. Keep in mind that Rei is more than a little overpowered in this story. Much of the drama will be her overcoming her qualms about using her Angelic powers.**

 **1\. YouTube was created in 2005. For the sake of this story, assume it was established in the same year in the Evangelion universe, despite Second Impact.**

 **2\. If I recall, the BBC (and perhaps other TV companies) compiled Christmas tapes, usually with a lot of bloopers, for staff members to have a laugh at.**


	10. Chapter 9: Friendship - Fly Me to the

**CHAPTER 9:**

 **FRIENDSHIP/FLY ME TO THE MOON**

 _Harry and Rei's first kiss could have happened under better circumstances. But considering that Shinji once ended up sprawled on top of her while she was naked, it could also have happened under far worse circumstances._

 _It was after he had learned her true nature. And had seen her naked, several times over. At the time, he was too much in shock to even think about it. But now…well, he was struggling very hard not to think about how good she looked naked. As well as trying to not think about the fact that she was, effectively, Shinji's half-sister._

 _Rei had opted to leave her clones alive, for the time being. Not because she wanted immortality, but because she wanted to remain alive long enough to destroy the Angels, and hopefully settle down into as normal a life as she could manage. Once that was over, then she would destroy the clones, or at least give Dr Akagi her consent. Akagi accepted this, and then smirked, and told the two lovebirds to go and talk it out privately. Shinji and Misato, meanwhile, left to discuss things themselves._

 _Harry was escorting Rei home, using routes Ritsuko suggested to avoid the majority of surveillance cameras. Rei was to act like she had little memory of Harry, so that Gendo's suspicions would be minimised. Once they got to her dingy apartment, though, the mask came off. Since dying, Rei had become more emotive. Only subtly so, but to Harry, it was like a scream. Tears began to trickle from her eyes._

 _To Harry, who had been here a couple of times before, this reminded him of his cupboard under the stairs, the one the Dursleys had forced him to sleep in until after his first year at Hogwarts. Not the amount of space: he would have been overjoyed to have an apartment to himself. No, it was the feeling of neglect, of isolation. Given how Rei was treated by Gendo, it had the feeling of a cupboard one put a tool into when it wasn't being used. It didn't feel like a home._

 _He gently embraced his fellow teenager, and felt her warm tears soak into his shirt. "Why am I crying?" she murmured._

 _"I don't know. Is it because you're alive? Is it because you nearly died? Is it because of what that bastard told Dr Akagi to do?"_

 _"…Yes. All of that. And more. But…he nearly stole my heart away from me, Harry. My_ _ **heart**_ _." She shuddered. "I am little more than a puppet, a_ _ **doll**_ _to him. Like my other bodies in Terminal Dogma. He doesn't even love me. I do not think he even loves his own wife. Not anymore." She wept quietly into his shirt, before asking, "Harry? What is this feeling? Like I wish Gendo Ikari dead more than anyone else in the world? Even Angels?"_

 _"Hatred?"_

 _"Hatred…yes…I hate him, Harry. I have not truly hated anyone before. It…frightens me," the blue-haired girl admitted. "People have irritated me, angered me…but never have I felt this feeling of hatred."_

 _Harry clutched Rei closer to him. Eventually, he asked, "What are you going to do about it?"_

 _"I don't know," she asked. She removed her face from his shoulder, tears streaking her face. "But I have you. And Shinji. And the Major. And Pilot Sohryu. But especially you. Harry…I wish to try something."_

 _"What's that?"_

 _She gently took his head in his hands, and then brought her lips to his own. He responded in kind, and for a while, the two teenagers kissed, slowly and quietly. Then, they broke it off, and Rei smiled, even if it was tinged by sadness. "Yes…that is pleasant. We will do more of that later. My heart yearns to become one with you, Harry. One day, we shall."_

* * *

 _One day, we shall…_

Rei woke from a dream of that day. Her cheeks had a faint tinge of red to them, but her mouth bore a faint smile.

In a way, they already became one, in a way far more intimate than any lover would have become. For a time, their souls were merged during a temporary Instrumentality while they were preventing Gendo and SEELE from instigating their versions of Third Impact.

During their DADA lesson yesterday, Rei noticed that Pilot Sohryu…no, _Asuka_ was in her element. Indeed, the redhead seemed far happier than she had been for a long time, and Rei, despite their antagonism before, was actually glad for Asuka. That Asuka had found happiness with Kaworu was only the icing on the cake: it was really the only reason Rei revived her fellow Nephilim. He had made Asuka happy, even though he broke her heart when his true nature was revealed.

The fact that Asuka's mother was now alive and sane was another factor. You could see that Asuka inherited her temper and pride from her mother, but with Kyoko now human (or near enough) again, you could also see a humanity that was now being drawn out of the shell Asuka had kept it in.

These thoughts and more occupied Rei as she went to shower, and then got dressed. As she walked into the Common Room with her favourite genetic engineering text in her hand, though, she found a fourth year girl surreptitiously placing something behind a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. The girl caught Rei's eyes, then scowled. She didn't say anything, though. But Rei knew what she was thinking. _Freak_.

Which was ironic, really. Rei had more power in her little finger than most of these wizards and witches had in their entire bodies. And it scared her. If she had all the powers of the Angels, even the Lilith being she became for a time, all she had to do was concentrate, and every human being in the world would suddenly dissolve into LCL, and their souls be freed. When you thought about it, it was a frightening power. It was one of the few reasons she was remotely grateful to having blunted emotions. It meant she was slow to anger, at least to the point where she wanted to turn someone into goop.

Rei sat down on an armchair, and began reading. Soon, Kaworu sat down next to her on another armchair. He was silently reading a book of sheet music. Eventually, Kaworu said, "An intriguing place, isn't it? So organic and alive, a far cry from NERV Headquarters. Ghosts, talking portraits, shifting architecture…I had a most interesting conversation with the House ghost, the Grey Lady. Would you believe that she is the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw? It seems she is partial to Beethoven. And to more modern tastes, believe it or not. I sent her to the others, and Misato and the others serenaded her with _God Only Knows_ by the Beach Boys."

Rei chuckled softly at the thought. But even as she did so, Luna came down the stairs, barefoot. Despite the airy and apparently random nature of her movements, Rei and Kaworu soon realised she was looking for something. And they realised what that was. She had shoes on, but no socks.

"Good morning, Angels," Luna said to them with a smile.

"Good morning, Luna," Rei and Kaworu chorused quietly. Then, Rei, without saying anything, pointed behind the statue. Luna got what she meant immediately, and fished around behind it, before plucking the socks from their hiding place triumphantly.

"The Nargles have been busy taking my things," Luna observed, looking at her socks.

"Not Nargles," Rei said, glaring at the fourth year girl pointedly, who stared back defiantly. As if to say, _What are you going to do about it?_

With a thought, Rei showed her exactly what she was going to do. With a squawk, the girl vanished into a black portal. The other end was in a wall near the armchair, which spat the girl out so that she tumbled to a halt near her. As she shook her head, Rei said, "Luna is under my protection. I hear of any more 'Nargles' taking her things, and I do worse. Am I understood?"

"I don't take orders from a dark freak, especially about Looney," the girl hissed, unwisely.

"This is not an order or a request. This is a commandment, set in stone. You will leave Luna Lovegood alone, or you will face the consequences." Drawing upon the powers of Sachiel, she pointed her palm to the ceiling, and extruded a glowing pink lance of light. "I believe I have made myself very clear."

As Rei retracted the spear of energy, and the girl scrambled away, Luna sat between Rei and Kaworu, only for Rei to get up off the armchair. "No, it's fine. I like sitting on a rug," Luna said as she put her socks on. "You didn't need to do that, Rei. She's infested with wrackspurts, I don't think they'll be removed by what you did."

"I do not like bullies. Especially when they target people I like. I do not know whether I can count you as a friend, Luna, but I certainly prefer your company to hers," Rei said.

Having put her socks on, Luna said, "Most call me Looney. Ginny's the only person who calls me that nicely. Like she's a friend. I don't really have many. My mother died shortly before I came to Hogwarts. Magical accident." For a moment, she looked morose, before she perked up. "Hey, can you sing? I just want to see if an Angel has a voice like an angel."

"Well, I can sing," Kaworu said.

"And you, Rei?"

"…Yes."

"Can I hear a song from you?"

After a moment, Rei began to sing. It was a song decades ago, one that, for some reason, enjoyed a revival in Tokyo-3. It was even taught at their school. Her voice rang out in a hauntingly beautiful manner across the Ravenclaw Common Room.

" _Fly me to the Moon,_

 _And let me play among the stars._

 _Let me see what Spring is like_

 _On Jupiter and Mars_

 _In other words, hold my hand,_

 _In other words, baby, kiss me._

 _Fill my heart with song,_

 _And let me sing forever more._

 _You are all I long for_

 _All I worship and adore,_

 _In other words, please be true,_

 _In other words, I love you._ "

Luna's eyes were wide with rapturous awe, and there was even a faint smattering of applause from some of the other Ravenclaws present in the Common Room.

"You seem to have a gift, Rei," Kaworu remarked. "Maybe one day, we should sing a duet. Or maybe Major Katsuragi could be persuaded to mount a musical or even an opera for Hogwarts."

Rei glanced at Kaworu, before shrugging. "Perhaps. I believe that the Umbridge woman may have objections to that."

"Normally, I would wonder how any human being could object to such a thing. However, having seen something of the woman, I am sure that you are correct, though I don't know whether she qualifies as a human being," Kaworu remarked. "She seems more…batrachian than is healthy."

Luna smiled. "Batrachian…what a fascinating and apt adjective."

"It's what Dr Akagi calls her, and I am inclined to agree," Kaworu said. "Sadly, we still have to deal with her until the Ministry of Magic sees fit to remove her. Which won't happen any time soon."

Rei nodded. Privately, though, she knew what would happen to Umbridge should she cross the line. Reluctant though she was to unleash the power of Arael's mental attack on a human being, she wasn't sure that Umbridge fulfilled the definition of human by any standard definition…

* * *

Elsewhere, Lord Voldemort was considering matters. Snape had reported some time ago that the Potter brat was still alive. What was more, he had somehow ended up in Japan, and in the company of some sort of monster-hunting militia that had come back to Hogwarts in Potter's wake. This, of course, was all reported in the _Daily Prophet_ later. But he got the feeling that Severus either didn't know the whole story, or was holding back.

It mattered little. He was currently making plans to obtain the prophecy that Severus had only half-heard. And no matter what allies Harry was able to gather to himself, Muggle or Magical, he would fall. It was inevitable. Lord Voldemort could tolerate no rivals. And anyone who defeated him would learn why such a victory was only ephemeral.

He chuckled darkly. Yes. Soon, Lord Voldemort's supremacy would be assured. Nothing in the world would stop him. Not Harry Potter. Not that fool Dumbledore. And certainly not a group of Muggles, no matter how valiant or well-armed they were. His immortality was already assured. Soon, his domination of the world would be too…

 **CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Just a nice moment involving Rei, Kaworu, and Luna. Oh, and a bit of Harry and Rei's first kiss.**

 **By the way,** ** _Fly Me to the Moon_** **was written and composed by Bart Howard. Obviously, I don't own the lyrics. I put the song in because of** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **putting it in as their ending theme. Many of the Japanese voice actresses sing it, including Rei's voice actress, Megumi Hayashibara. I have to say, when I'm writing this, I am hearing Amanda Winn-Lee's voice, though. I'm sort of torn between Winn-Lee and Brina Palencia (who played Rei in the Rebuild films) as being the better English voice actress for the role. They each have their own good points.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	11. Chapter 10: Hallelujah!- Rei VS Umbridge

**CHAPTER 10:**

 **HALLELUJAH!/REI VERSUS UMBRIDGE**

 _To hate and be afraid of one's own body is a too-common ailment of many a teenager. But Rei Ayanami had more cause than most to be afraid. After all, she was a Nephilim, a human/Angel hybrid. Thanks to the crude genetic engineering forcing human and Angelic biology together, her body needed regular doses of drugs to prevent it from falling apart. And, of course, she was the key to triggering the end of the world. So her self-loathing and fear was more than a little justified._

 _Shortly after the fiasco with Tabris, Gendo Ikari ordered that the drugs be withheld. Because he knew it was time. Time for Rei to fulfil her purpose, and forfeit her life so that Gendo Ikari would be reunited with his wife._

 _But Rei wasn't ready._

 _She stood in front of the tank filled with her clones. Like them, she was naked. She had discarded her clothing earlier. She actually didn't mind being naked, though she wasn't sure how much of that was due to her very unhealthy upbringing. But there was one person she most certainly felt uncomfortable being naked in front of._

 _In a way, that was why she was doing this. To help psyche herself up. To prepare for the end of everything._

 _One of her clones smiled at her. But it was a hollow smile, of basic, animal contentment, with no soul behind it. The clone was warm, and her system flooded with the drugs the LCL in which she floated serenely was filled with. Warm and content and alive…but not truly living._

 _Rei had often seen her own body, both in the clones and in the mirror. But it was only now that she could see what Harry, and indeed, others, could see in her. Even though the clone didn't have her soul, she could see a calm, serene beauty that she now knew she shared. And she was certainly smiling more often now. Thanks to first Shinji, and now, Harry._

 _If Gendo Ikari had his way, Rei Ayanami would never smile again. She would never laugh or cry or scream in fear or anger or pleasure. He had condemned her to non-existence from the moment she was born. Well, all human beings had that sentence of death over them. But he had decreed her life would be over before it could truly begin. All for the selfish want for his wife back with him, no matter the desire of Rei Ayanami, or Yui Ikari, or Shinji Ikari, or, really, everyone else in the entire world._

 _She was not his doll. Not anymore. When the time came, she knew what to do._

 _"Rei. It's time."_

 _Rei turned slowly when she heard the hated voice behind her. The JSSDF were attacking NERV even now, though Harry's intervention had helped stymie their advance. She could feel Shinji and Asuka in their EVA units above, preparing to fight the forces SEELE mustered against them. And Harry…_

 _Her thoughts were chased from her mind as Gendo Ikari approached. "Come. We have no time to waste. It is time for you to fulfil your purpose, Rei."_

 _Rei followed him, but she knew that Harry was following them. He had followed her down here at her request, to give her the strength needed to go through with this final rebellion…and in the process, deliver him, and the rest of NERV, from this final battle…_

* * *

There was nobody Rei Ayanami could hate more than Gendo Ikari, save perhaps for the people she saw in Harry's memories. At least, that's what she believed. Even Asuka was more of an annoyance rather than an object of hatred. But that was changing due to the fact that she had now met Dolores Umbridge. While she had met many people who were ugly inside and ugly outside, she had never personally met anyone who was so ugly both within and without.

She remembered how Asuka acted, like some perverse _tsundere_ , swinging between sweet and sour. But Asuka, for all her nastiness, had a good, if broken, soul beneath it all. Whereas Umbridge was acting purely out of self-interest, no matter how much she protested to the contrary.

Dumbledore, despite being a manipulative old bastard and making more than a few questionable decisions, at least seemed truly relieved about the soul fragment being removed. And while she wasn't sure whether she could trust Snape, her few interactions with the man in Potions showed that he respected intelligence…unless it was in a Gryffindor. A nasty piece of work to be sure, but he also kept his tongue on a leash around her, presumably because he had been told of her capabilities.

But Umbridge? She was condescending, selfish, proud, convinced of her own superiority, and unable to listen to any viewpoints contrary to her own. Okay, that sort of described Asuka very well, but unlike Asuka, Umbridge didn't actually have any true tragedy in her childhood. Asuka had the capacity to change. Not only did Umbridge lack any such capacity, she would never want to change.

And for all Asuka's faults, she would never deliberately torture someone. Something Rei realised that Umbridge had no trouble doing when Luna came back from a detention Umbridge had set for her. Despite not being a teacher, Umbridge, supposedly through her post as High Inquisitor, had the authority to set detentions. And now, Luna had paid the price. She wasn't the only one, but Rei hadn't noticed until now.

She gripped Luna's hand, covered in clotting lines of bloody writing. _I Will Not Tell Lies_. Over and over again. A declaration of war on anyone Umbridge found wanting. She had already been to many classes, interrupting with that stupid throat-clearing of hers and making snide remarks in that wheedling sickly-sweet tone. It was clear she intended to undermine Dumbledore.

Kaworu came back, having headed to the Hospital Wing to get some medicines. Although no longer as much of the Angel he used to be, Kaworu still had more than a few abilities beyond the ken of humans, even wizards. And one of them was stealth. Pomfrey had been helpful once he told her why.

As he dressed Luna's hand, Kaworu said, "Rei, what are you planning on doing?"

"I have not decided yet. But I intend to cause her pain," Rei said. "I did not believe I could hate someone as much as Gendo Ikari."

"And if you do? What is to stop the Ministry from sending someone worse?"

"Kaworu, we cannot let this stand. This is not a detention. This is sadism. Even if she is not a Death Eater, she should not be allowed to have authority over children. Luna, what did she use on you?"

"She made me use a Blood Quill. It's normally only used for signing important documents," Luna said, wincing as Kaworu finished dressing her wounded hand.

"I will check and see if the others have surveillance cameras in Umbridge's office," Rei said. "We will find a way to bring this footage to the attention of the authorities. If not Fudge, then…"

"Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Luna said. "She's one of the ones in the Ministry with the least wrackspurts."

Rei and Kaworu had been around her long enough to translate her strange way of speaking to know that Luna meant that Bones could be trusted. Or at least had more common sense than most in Magical Britain. They only hoped that this could help them…

* * *

As she walked down the corridor the next day, intending to have an early breakfast before heading to the Chamber of Secrets, Rei couldn't help but shake a sense of foreboding. It wasn't until Draco Malfoy appeared in front of her, an evil little smirk on his face, that she realised why. Especially as she was sandwiched between him and his two goons, who had come up behind her.

"Well, if it isn't the half-breed wandering alone," Draco sneered. God, he reminded her so much of Gendo Ikari combined with the worst traits of Asuka, put into a blonde ferret.

Then, part of what he said caught up with her. Half-breed? How could he possibly know of her half-Angel heritage? Or maybe he didn't, maybe he was guessing based on her albinism. "I am not wandering. I am heading to the Great Hall for breakfast." She made to move past him, but he blocked her path.

"Not so fast, Ayanami," he sneered. "I am a Prefect."

"Yes, you are. However, as I am not contravening any rules of the Hogwarts Charter, you have no just cause to impede me."

"Listen to you, spouting all those big words," Draco retorted. "D'you think you're so clever, like that know-it-all Mudblood Granger?"

"Better a Mudblood than an inbred ferret," Rei replied, with a hint of a smile on her lips. "Have you not studied genetics?"

"I don't need to study any Muggle filth!"

"A shame. Were your parents brother and sister, or merely first cousins?" Rei asked almost conversationally.

"Oh dear," came an unctuous, sickly-sweet tone. "Did I hear a no-name half-breed slander the heir to an Ancient and Noble House?"

Suddenly, before she could react and bring her AT Field to bear, she was hit by a spell from the side. She slumped down, unconscious…

* * *

When she woke, she was tied to a chair. And judging by the décor, with plates showing moving pictures of cats on the now-hideously pink wall, it was Umbridge's office. The woman herself was smiling, sitting right in front of Rei. "Well, it's about time we had a little talk, Rei Ayanami. You see, being the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic means that I know my way around bureaucracy and law. And when Dumbledore made that little announcement in the _Daily Prophet_ , I found myself suspicious. I know there are monster-hunting groups, but I must admit I have never heard of NERV. And considering you come from Japan, I thought odd that such an organisation had a European name. The spelling is German, apparently."

Rei merely gazed impassively at the Batrachian Bitch.

"Anyway, I sniffed around, and asked the Ministry in Japan. I have an acquaintance there who owes me a favour. The paperwork, it seems, was actually filed by the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, aka Dumbledore."

Rei flinched inwardly. Umbridge was onto them. But why? How could she view them as a threat?

"If you are a military organisation, Muggle or not, then it is clear why you are here, with Potter in tow. Dumbledore has finally decided to oust the Minister, using scaremongering about You Know Who…"

"Voldemort," Rei interjected quietly. "Or are you afraid to speak his name?"

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!" Umbridge screeched, slapping Rei.

"Sohryu slaps harder than you," Rei said, utterly straight-faced, even as a bruise appeared on her cheek.

"Oh, that was merely a tickle compared to what I can do to you," Umbridge said. "By the powers invested in me as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, you'd be surprised at what I can do."

 _And you would be surprised at what_ _ **I**_ _can do_ , Rei thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "You believe NERV to be an army Dumbledore is raising to overthrow Fudge?"

"Exactly, and you are going to confess!" The older woman waggled a bottle. "Veritaserum. Professor Snape seemed to be out for some reason, so I asked a friend in the DMLE to provide me with some."

"You would not believe the truth even if I did drink that," Rei replied. "NERV is at Hogwarts because this is Harry's home. Voldemort is still alive, even if you deny it, and we will stop him. When we do, we will get on with our lives."

Umbridged snorted contemptuously as she began to remove a cork from the bottle. "Oh dear, you are like that Lovegood girl. So intent on spreading lies."

"I believe the English term 'the pot calling the kettle black' is appropriate here," Rei said. Then, in a tribute to her original self's demise, she added, "Old hag."

Umbridge stilled, blinking in shock and astonishment. A scowl made her face even uglier, a prodigious feat. "I think we won't use the Veritaserum straight away. In fact, I will make sure that you start screaming for me to use the Veritaserum! _CRUCIO!_ "

Rei Ayanami convulsed, biting back a scream. As painful as the spell was, she had suffered far worse. The feeling of being all but boiled alive during the fight against Ramiel, when the shield had boiled away. The feeling of Bardiel infecting her arm. The searing pain of the N2 bomb going off next to her when she tried to stop Zeruel. Armisael invading her EVA and her body. Those were far worse than this spell.

And she knew, in the part of her mind where she retained clarity despite the pain, that this had just sealed Umbridge's fate. Not just hurting Lovegood or casting aspersions. No, this woman had no compunction about torturing a teenager, picking on those she deemed weak.

It was time to show her what happened when she picked the wrong fight.

Umbridge released the spell, and as Rei slumped forward, the odious woman grabbed Rei's hair and pulled her upright. "Well? Have you got anything to say, you half-breed filth?"

"Yes," Rei said calmly, her red eyes meeting Umbridge's. She had no compunction about doing what she was about to do next. " _Arael._ "

 _Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!_

 _Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!_

 _For the lord God omnipotent reigneth_

 _Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!_

 _For the lord God omnipotent reigneth_

 _Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!_

 _For the lord God omnipotent reigneth_

 _Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!_

A blast of light shone from Rei's face to Umbridge's, sending her toppling back with a piercing scream. But the beam of light, shifting as if to come from the very heavens themselves (despite them being indoors), stayed with her like an accusing spotlight.

Rei felt disgust when she saw Umbridge's life through the feedback from Arael's powers. The woman was a contemptible bitch, who could have had a good life, but was power-hungry, and while no Death Eater, would have cheerfully supported them from the shadows. She cared for nobody but herself and her ambitions. Even Gendo Ikari, for all of his faults, loved his wife, even if it was to the point of apocalyptic obsession. But she intended to climb to the top, and would gladly do so over the bodies of Harry, Dumbledore, and indeed anyone else that she believed in her way. All through manipulation and smarminess. It was NERV's appearance, and her increasing frustration and paranoia at being shown up by Kyoko that made Umbridge try something so desperate. And she paid the price.

Rei was tempted to end the woman's life here and now. Instead, after a few minutes, she removed Arael's powers, leaving Umbridge catatonic on the floor, soiling herself. Then, Rei briefly reduced herself to LCL, long enough to reform, albeit naked, free of the chair she was bound to. As she dressed, she looked down at Umbridge contemptuously. "You will not harm him, or anyone else. Never again."

* * *

Later, in the Chamber of Secrets, after witnessing what they saw on the hidden cameras, for a moment, none of those present seemed to know what to say. Then, eventually, Lupin said, "Do I win the betting pool?"

As it turned out, he did.

 **CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, that just happened. Sorry about the wait, you guys, but inspiration has been very thin on the ground lately. Next chapter will probably be the fallout from Umbridge attacking Rei, along with more Harry/Rei stuff.**

 **Now, why did Umbridge make her move now? Unlike in the novel, where her fears of Dumbledore raising an actual army are mostly unfounded (leaving aside the Order of the Phoenix), here, Dumbledore messed up a little by making NERV out to be a paramilitary organisation. Umbridge actually doesn't care whether Dumbledore has an army or not, but she hoped to get enough information from Rei to uncover NERV and out them to the Minister as a threat. Plus, she's not happy with Kyoko and Asuka one-upping her.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Celestia's Paladin** **I have already answered in correspondence, but I will answer them again here. I do do some bashing works, but most of the time, when I do Harry Potter fics, I try to capture some essence of the books, or else reconstruct rather than deconstruct the characters. Additionally, while I do sometimes try to humanise Snape, or else make him more complex than canon, I find that I can't do so as well with Draco. The closest I came to it is mentioning in passing that he became an ally of an older Harry in** ** _Nitimur in Vetitum_** **, and even then, he does it for (relatively) selfish reasons. I was also not a fan of emo Harry in** ** _The Order of the Phoenix_** **: that book stands as a nadir for the series as a whole, frankly.**

 **MsDeepAndDark** **: Thanks for the praise. As for your concerns regarding the characters speaking English and casual English at that, it's my own personal fanon (stated explicitly in this story) that NERV, as a UN organisation, requires its personnel to be bilingual in both English and Japanese. Many of the readouts are in English, they interact with Americans on a frequent basis, and so on. Plus, Asuka's part-American. And Misato speaks with an American admiral throughout the eighth episode, and I doubt that was in Japanese. And regarding Snape saying 'said the actress to the bishop'? Challenge accepted. It may not be in this particular work, but I will make sure he says that in one of my fanfics!**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	12. Chapter 11: Fallout - Picking Up the

**CHAPTER 11:**

 **FALLOUT/PICKING UP THE PIECES**

 _It was like rape, Rei thought, as Gendo Ikari pushed his hand into her body. There was a sickening sensation of_ _ **otherness**_ _, even as her A.T Field began to fail, and he was trying to force the union between Adam and Lilith. It was_ _ **wrong**_ _, and yet, she was acceding to this._

 _Harry had not managed to get through the doors in time. Even now, she was sure, he was trying to unlock them and open them. But even with his magic, she was sure it would take too long. She was buying time, hoping he could make it._

 _Suddenly, the grind of the doors behind them. Gendo manoeuvred himself and Rei until he could see the door, getting out his pistol. Rei watched, even as her vision began to blur, as two figures approached. Harry…and Doctor Akagi._

 _"Doctor Akagi…why did you let Potter in here?" Gendo asked, raising his pistol._

 _"Because I wanted to stop you," Akagi said rather casually, as if discussing the weather. "Harry and I agreed that you needed to be stopped."_

 _As Gendo tried to pull the trigger, Harry waved his wand and roared_ "EXPELLIARMUS!" _Suddenly, the gun was yanked from Gendo's hand, and flew to Harry's own._

 _"Oh, how clever," Gendo sneered. "The magician has some tricks up his sleeve. What next, a rabbit out of your hat?"_

 _"Just stop doing what you're doing to Rei, Gendo," Harry snarled, raising his wand again. "She doesn't want it, can't you see?"_

 _"What she wants, what you want, it's irrelevant," Gendo sneered. "I will see my wife again!"_

 _"I talked to her while I was in Unit 01, during that business with Zeruel," Harry retorted. "She doesn't want to come out of Unit 01, not if it means the end of the world. She told me you're no longer the man she fell in love with."_

 _"She is EVERYTHING to me! How dare you lie to me, Harry Potter?!" Gendo demanded. "She would never turn her back on me!"_

 _"You hurt her son, nearly turned him into a broken wreck! You've made a clone of her, and you're basically molesting her!"_

 _"Rei is a means to an end! Yui…she is all that matters! And for all your magic, that's all you can do, talk! You have a gun in your hand, but you don't have the guts to shoot!"_

 _"That's because I don't have to," Harry said. After a moment, he said, "My mentor once told me love is a truly powerful thing. And it is. In your case, your love has twisted into something abhorrent. Powerful, but abhorrent. It's changed from love to infatuation, a twisted obsession with your wife, ignoring your son! But…with Rei…it's something purer. I think…I love her. And she loves me back."_

 _"You mean she_ _ **loved**_ _you back," Gendo sneered. "Past tense."_

 _"Oh, when you asked me to kill her, activate a new clone, and not update her memories?" Ritsuko asked. "Well, Commander, I decided to exercise my judgement. I used the portable memory recorder. Rei remembered."_

 _Rei, during that time, was gathering herself, ready to fight back. She took control of her body, down to the last cell, with a supreme effort of will…and_ _ **pulled**_ _. So too did Gendo, trying to take his hand out of her body when he realised what she was trying to do._

 _He was too late._

 _With a scream of agony, Gendo reeled back, blood spraying from his wrist. "Rei! Why?!"_

 _Rei looked at him coldly, her blood-red eyes glinting with disdain. "Because there is one thing you failed to realise, Commander." The last word was filled with venom and contempt, a strange thing to hear in the near-monotone voice of Rei Ayanami. She then said five words she wanted to say for a long time._

 _"I am NOT your doll."_

 _Her left arm, the one that had fallen off as her A.T Field had begun to destabilise, reformed. She then kicked Gendo viciously in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Bastard," she said quietly, but no less venomous for it._

 _"Rei, are you all right?" Harry asked._

 _"Yes. But Adam and Lilith are joining in my body," Rei said. "Impact will occur. It is inevitable. All that can be done, is to shape how it turns out."_

 _Harry nodded. "Shinji and Asuka are fighting off SEELE's Mass Production EVAs," he said. "A lot of people…too many people, have died because Gendo wanted to be a god…never mind SEELE. Misato's dead. Rei…when Impact occurs…can you bring us to my world? And can you bring Misato and the others who died to life? Can you get rid of Lilith and the Evangelion Units, so that SEELE can't try again?"_

 _"I will try," Rei said quietly. "I do not know whether it is possible."_

 _"Impact events break the laws of physics," Ritsuko said. "I wouldn't be surprised if it is possible." Before she could get another word off, however, Gendo, who had gotten to his feet, leapt for Harry, trying to wrestle the gun off him. In the struggled, the gun went off, Ritsuko collapsing with a wound to the chest, her eyes wide in pain and shock._

"DEPULSIO!" _Harry roared, sending Gendo flying, the gun falling into the LCL lake. He then dashed over to Ritsuko. "Doctor Akagi!"_

 _Ritsuko shook her head. "Don't…worry about…me. Rei…I…trust you. I know I haven't treated you as well as you…deserve…but…I trust you."_

 _Rei nodded. "Thank you, Doctor Akagi." She looked at Harry, a question left unspoken on her lips._

 _He nodded. "I trust you too, Rei. Do you need to ask?"_

 _She smiled gently, before she reached over to him, and kissed him. When she broke off the kiss, she saw the question dancing in his eyes. "For luck," she said, before she started rising into the air, turning as she did so, looking at Lilith, her progenitor, her true self. A vague, blobby white humanoid creature, its face obscured by a mask with the insignia of SEELE, a triangle with seven eyes._

 _As she approached the body of Lilith, knowing that she might risk her very identity being submerged, she murmured, quietly, "I'm home."_

 _Suddenly, she was drawn into the body of Lilith. And then, as she felt her body and soul become one with Lilith, she heard two words, words she knew Gendo Ikari, Harry, and even the dying Ritsuko Akagi would hear. Words spoken in a soft whisper, almost maternal, but penetrating all the same to heart and soul._

Welcome home.

* * *

Snape examined the catatonic form of Dolores Umbridge, which was gaping in an imbecilic manner. It was with both satisfaction and disgust that he noted that the odious, batrachian hag had soiled herself. She had been brought up here as discreetly as possible by Minerva and Dumbledore, who had been alerted by Ayanami. The blue-haired girl was looking at Umbridge from her own bed with an expression of contempt that Snape, being a connoisseur of contempt and the expressions thereof, actually admired. "What did you do to her?" he asked.

"She used the Cruciatus Curse on me," Ayanami said. "I retaliated with the power of Arael, the Light of God, and the Angel of Birds."

"I am not versed with angels," Snape said. "What power is that?"

"An extreme version of what you would call Legilimency. Lupin told me of what Legilimency entails. Arael attacked Asuka through probing her mind, as well as trying to communicate with her. The end result nearly sent her into a coma. I tore Umbridge's mind to shreds. She will recover…eventually. Though I am sure it will take at least some months to do so."

Snape was tempted to consider her a liar, but he knew of the potential of Legilimency, having witnessed the Dark Lord use Legilimency in a similar manner. While it was rare that Snape felt gratitude, he was now truly grateful that Dumbledore had warned him against antagonising Rei Ayanami, if only from a self-preservation viewpoint. Her power was frightening. Eventually, he remarked dryly, "The motto of Hogwarts is ' _Never tickle a sleeping dragon_ '. I believe Umbridge has never heeded that sound piece of advice." Advice that his godson would have to be reminded of, lest Rei target Draco for his role in this affair.

Rei looked at Umbridge, even as Dumbledore, Minerva, Misato and Yui entered. "…surveillance shows what she did to her!" Misato snapped. "Umbridge used the Cruciatus Curse, one of the Unforgivables! If what Harry told me is true, then using it means a mandatory sentence to Azkaban!"

"I agree wholeheartedly, Major Katsuragi," Dumbledore said. "But Miss Ayanami's retaliation will be seen as excessive, and that is putting an optimistic spin on it! She is already seen in some quarters as a hybrid, one who may be Dark, as is Mr Nagisa. Her association with Harry will only make things worse!"

"Are you telling me that Rei should not have retaliated?" Yui asked in a dangerous tone.

"I would have preferred it if she hadn't, and then gone to see me afterwards."

"If she was capable of doing so!" Misato snapped. "Umbridge could have used the Imperius Curse on her, or even tried to kill her! Even if the Veritaserum worked, Umbridge wouldn't have believed what she said. Umbridge had no compunction about torturing Luna Lovegood on the slightest pretext!"

"And you want me to do what, exactly?" Dumbledore asked, his own temper beginning to fray. "Major Katsuragi, Dr Ikari, I don't think you understand how tenuous my own position is becoming. I am under pressure to relinquish my roles as Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, as well as Chef Warlock of the Wizengamot. Under normal circumstances, I would only be too happy to divest myself of those roles, as they were thrusted upon me due to my fame for stopping Grindlewald, as well as my own actions against Voldemort! But…Fudge is also looking to oust me as Headmaster of Hogwarts. This may be the pretext he needs. And if I am not in charge of Hogwarts…Harry loses a significant proportion of his protection. In addition, if I lose Hogwarts, Voldemort may become bold enough to move out publicly, or else launch a _coup d'etat_ on the Ministry."

"That is why we intend to contact Amelia Bones in the DMLE," Misato said. "Kaworu told us of this. Luna suggested her as someone in the Ministry we can trust."

"Under most other circumstances, I would agree wholeheartedly. Madame Bones is a most honest and upstanding member of the Ministry. But Fudge is stubborn, and is being bankrolled by the Death Eaters. And they would certainly influence him to declare Miss Ayanami a Dark Creature of some stripe or other. The best Madame Bones can do is buy time, stymie them."

Yui frowned. "Is there any way we can influence the Minister ourselves? He may not listen to you anymore, but what about NERV?"

"What would you offer him?" Dumbledore asked. "What can you offer him?"

"I'm thinking about it. But we have technology that is two decades ahead of everyone else," Yui said. "In addition, we have technology that is shielded from the EM interference magic causes. To the right investors, such tech would be highly attractive."

"True, but our society is a conservative one," Dumbledore said. "The latest form of Muggle technology to be converted into a magical form is the radio." After a moment, he frowned. "There may be a way, though, to help buy further influence with the Minister. Fudge tends to give attention to those who have donated to worthwhile causes. One of them is St Mungo's, our biggest hospital. You have medical technology far in advance of Muggle society as it is now. If there are treatments that can be used…"

"We'll look into it, but it may not be fast enough."

"If I have to, I'll sacrifice my positions in the ICW and the Wizengamot," Dumbledore said. "The former more than the latter: if I am still Chief Warlock, I might be able to help Miss Ayanami should Fudge move for a hearing or a trial. He won't accept the video footage as evidence, even if Madame Bones does. It is a long-held truism that electrical and electronic devices cannot work at Hogwarts, and he will claim the footage faked somehow. He will also claim we are framing Umbridge for using that damned Blood Quill!"

"Albus!" Minerva snapped. "What we need to do is gather everything in her office, and send it on to Madame Bones. She's our best hope. At the very least, we can stymie Fudge."

Dumbledore nodded. "We'll do what we can. Miss Ayanami…I cannot condone what you did…but neither can I find it in my heart to condemn you. I'll do what I can. Harry is on his way up with his friends."

Rei nodded, but her subsequent glare had the air of a dismissal. And Snape could tell that she knew she had made an error, albeit one where she had no choice but bad ones. Still, they could only do what they could now.

 **CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Sorry about the wait for this next chapter. And it may be a wait for the next one. Inspiration's lacking. Then again, maybe not. I've figured out how Harry should get Rei out of this. He does have a small fortune in his vaults, potentially. It's not the best way to do it, but a lot of stories has Harry starting to use the Potter fortune.**

 **Hope you liked my version of the events of** ** _The End of Evangelion_** **, or at least part of it. Ritsuko wasn't in there earlier because she was helping Misato strengthen up NERV's cybersecurity, and then decided to help Harry enter the Lilith chamber. I very nearly wrote her as not getting shot, only to realise I had written her mentioning getting shot.**

 **As I write this annotations section (late April 2016), I'm on a bit of a** ** _The Prisoner_** **kick. Without** ** _The Prisoner_** **, we may never have had** ** _Neon Genesis Evangelion_** **. For those of you not in the know,** ** _The Prisoner_** **was a spy-fi series starring Patrick McGoohan as a secret agent who suddenly resigns, only to be abducted and brought to an isolated location known as 'the Village'. Superficially cheerful and pleasant, the Village is actually a prison for ex-spies, and the people in charge, embodied by Number 2 (an administrator who is replaced on a regular basis), want to know why the secret agent, forced to adopt the 'name' Number 6, resigned, and as he refuses to cooperate, they try to use psychological mind games to break his resolve. The show was surreal on a level** ** _Evangelion_** **would be proud of, and the series final,** ** _Fall Out_** **, was equally as controversial as the two-part series finale of the** ** _Evangelion_** **TV series, and almost as baffling. If you've seen** ** _The Simpsons_** **episode** ** _The Computer Wore Menace Shoes_** **, you know what to expect. Recently, Big Finish (which does these** ** _Doctor Who_** **audio dramas I love) did an audio remake of** ** _The Prisoner_** **. I listened to the first episode, and found it to be an interesting variation on the TV show, well worth giving a shot. Try giving the original TV show a shot too, the one from the Sixties.**

 **Review-answering time! Thanks for the enthusiastic response to Umbridge's fate. I knew that'd go down well.**

 **Zazi The Beast** **: Some people (like one of my favourite fanfic authors, Gregg Landsmann of** ** _Nobody Dies_** **fame) take this view. I take the view that Yui (in some ways like Dumbledore) was well-meaning, but didn't take some details into consideration and was manipulative, but not actually evil. I genuinely believe she wanted to help humanity, and needed to be sucked into the giant doombot to avoid assassination by SEELE.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	13. Chapter 12: Filthy Lucre - Every Man Has

**CHAPTER 12:**

 **FILTHY LUCRE/EVERY MAN HAS HIS PRICE**

 _Harry went over to Ritsuko's side after watching Rei be absorbed into the massive form of Lilith. "…What happens now?" he asked._

 _"That is up to Rei…and you," Ritsuko said, agony apparent in every syllable. "The pair of you…hold the keys…to Third Impact. Harry, listen. I…never really liked her. Because…she held a greater place…in Ikari's heart…than I. That's…why I helped…you two. A selfish reason…but…I'm glad. Not just because…Ikari…is thwarted…but because…Rei…she's_ _ **happy**_ _. I…I've really only…just realised…she deserves…that…" Then, with a final exhalation, Ritsuko died, sagging to the floor._

 _Gendo glared at Harry. "Do you have any idea what you have done?!" he snarled. He lunged at Harry, only for Harry to dodge. All those years of being chased by Dudley, and dodging Bludgers during Quidditch, they paid off. As Gendo snarled, he said, "SEELE will have your head for this! If I don't get it first!"_

 _Harry glared back as he dodged yet another attack. "I know what I have done! I've given Rei the chance to be her own person! She was a tool to you, an expendable bloody tool! A clone you made from your wife's remaining cells because you wanted a tool who you could beat off to at nights."_

 _"Rei wasn't made to be a sex toy," Gendo snarled._

 _"You could've fooled me. No nudity taboo, pliable, utterly beautiful…and with a thing for skintight lycra. You filthy pervert," Harry sneered. "She's way too young for you."_

 _Gendo's retort was cut off when they heard a massive splash. They were nearly knocked off their feet by a tsunami in miniature of LCL, caused by Lilith somehow removing herself from the cross she had been nailed to. As Harry and Gendo watched in horror and awe, the mask of Lilith began to fall off her face, strands of her lumpy white flesh pulling off it like dough. Even as Harry and Gendo watched, her body and face began to shift, even as the mask finally dropped away. Hair grew, the face revealed was gentle and demure, breasts appeared in a body that was now becoming slender and feminine, even if the girl was now dozens, if not scores or hundreds, of metres high, hunched over._

 _"Rei…" Gendo and Harry whispered simultaneously._

 _The now-massive form of Rei Ayanami, now a fusion between human, Lilith, and Adam, glowing with a pale light, looked down at them both. She reached down gently, and then picked Harry up with the air of a human picking up a small animal, with utter tenderness and care._

 _"No, Rei! Take me instead! Damn you, Rei! I made you! I can also unmake you!" Gendo screamed._

 _Harry, meanwhile, was marvelling at the bizarreness of the situation. Here he was, cradled in the palm of a goddess, who just happened to be a fusion between the girl he thought he might be falling in love with, and two alien entities who might as well be deities._

Hold on, Harry, _Rei's voice said in his head, speaking with the weight of authority of Lilith._

 _He felt Rei, and himself, become insubstantial…or rather, become different, as if solid matter was but gas. Suddenly, they emerged into the command centre, where Fuyutsuki and the Bridge Bunnies were panicking over Rei's appearance as a giant naked deity. Maya began screaming hysterically as Rei's hand, the one cradling Harry, passed right through her._

 _Harry peeked over the edge of Rei's hand. "Sorry, Maya!" he called out._

 _"Harry, what are you doing?!" Fuyutsuki demanded._

 _"Hijacking Third Impact!" Harry called back. "Better put on your seatbelts, because I think we're all going for a trip in more ways than one!"_

 _Then, as Rei grew and grew, ascending, they emerged into the Geofront, where Shinji and Asuka were still holding off the Mass Production Evangelions. Rei noticed them, even as they backed away, snarling wordlessly, at her. Grotesque, eyeless things, like a biomechanical gargoyle brought to life._

 _Rei's eyes narrowed, before she said a single word_.  Begone.

 _With a thought, Rei banished them from existence, their organic components bursting into LCL, and the armour and mechanical elements collapsing without the Angelic tissue. Harry then heard the external speakers of the Eva Units burst into life. "_ _ **Rei?!**_ _" Shinji yelped._

 _"_ _ **Wondergirl?!**_ _" Asuka shouted._

 _Harry looked up into the face of Rei, who was now looking down at him_.  It's time, Harry. Third Impact has begun. Now, all it needs is direction. Together…we will shape Third Impact. Together…we can take you home, and bring NERV with us.

 _Harry looked up at Rei, before he said, "I'm ready."_

Good. But I must warn you…this is where things will get weird…

 _"More so than my being in your hands while you're giant and naked?" Harry asked. The last thing he heard before he felt his body burst into LCL was tinkling, musical laughter…_

* * *

Harry wasn't laughing as he, along with Ron and Hermione, looked at Rei, who was sitting up in bed, her hands folded demurely, though her expression was hard. Asuka and Kaworu had come up as well. They had heard the whole story, as well as the potential consequences of Rei's actions.

Harry knew that Rei was more powerful than him in many regards. But in this world, he had an advantage, perhaps two, that she didn't. He was famous, and, if what he heard about his family was true, he was rich. The two put together was a possibly powerful weapon.

Which was why he went over to Dumbledore and asked, "Do you know how much money I have?"

After a moment's hesitation, Dumbledore nodded. "Technically, as your godparents were indisposed, I am your magical guardian in their stead. The Potter family fortunes were depleted during the war against Voldemort. Not to abysmal levels, but I had to make some prudent investments to replenish them. I am sent your statements. I haven't thought about sending them to you."

"How convenient," Rei said quietly, but with a touch of venom in her tone.

"Miss Ayanami, if I rectified that, and the Dursleys intercepted those statements, they would undoubtedly make plans to claim it," Dumbledore said. "I paid them a stipend to look after Harry, a stipend they have abused."

"They were paid?!" Harry yelped.

"A not unreasonable expectation, to cover expenses."

"They said I was stealing the food from out of Dudley's mouth," Harry scowled.

"Dudley? He was the fat kid when we picked you up last year for the Quidditch World Cup, right? I reckon you haven't been stealing enough, mate(1)," Ron remarked.

"And yet, I'll have to go back," Harry said.

"Not now," Dumbledore said. When Harry turned to face him, Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment, as if wondering whether to speak on some matter or other in front of the others, before deciding to take the plunge. He finally told Harry about the blood wards, the others listening in.

After he had finished, Hermione frowned. "Professor, if Voldemort took some of Harry's blood, wouldn't that cancel out the blood wards?"

"No. They would have remained his greatest protection against Voldemort and his men."

"But not against his family," Misato said, her eyes narrowing. "There should have been more reliable ways of ensuring his safety."

"Major Katsuragi, those were dark and chaotic times!" Dumbledore retorted. "I admit, I made the wrong decision in hindsight, I made many of those! Merlin, I made so many mistakes. But think it through! Our people put a primacy on blood relation. With Sirius turned traitor, or so I had thought at the time, blinded by anger and the deceptions of the Potters, of Black, of Pettigrew…I didn't know who to trust. And the Longbottoms, Alice being his godmother, were still being targeted by the Death Eaters, even after Voldemort's fall. My decision to leave Harry with the Dursleys was not undertaken lightly! I hoped Petunia and her husband would be able to overlook their prejudices. I was wrong! I know that! I reproach myself each and every day for it! But I thought I was doing what was right. Sometimes, our choices are between lesser and greater evils, and I try to choose the lesser evils. But even I cannot always tell which is the lesser evil. Even with my years of experience…sometimes I'm still a fool. The wisest fool in all of Magical Britain."

Harry shook his head. "Never mind that for the moment. I'm angry with you…"

"And you have every right to be. But I can anticipate your next question. How much do you have in money?" Seeing Harry's nod, Dumbledore divulged the amount.

Almost everyone in the room gaped, though Snape scowled (or at least his habitual scowl deepened), and Rei merely raised an eyebrow. "Bloody hell, mate, you're set for life!" Ron yelped.

"Yeah, but it can't buy me my parents back," Harry said pointedly, cutting off what could have been another jealousy attack. Ron looked suitably chastised. "Even so, in the right hands…money can be a weapon. Can I use that money?"

"Not without authorisation from your magical guardian: much of it is held in trust."

"Well, I intend to use it. This is a dirty tactic, and frankly, I hate using it. But if I can use it to stop Fudge from making a fuss about Umbridge being attacked by Rei…"

Dumbledore looked pensive, stroking his beard anxiously. "This is a dangerous road you walk, Harry. Fudge is a greedy man, and the wealthier Death Eaters won't take kindly to you using their own weapon against them. And using money to buy men's souls is a dubious path."

"Rei is worth more than what's in my vaults, never mind all the vaults in Gringotts. I'd gladly give it up, along with my _celebrity_ ," this he said pointedly while looking at Snape, "if it meant helping any of my friends."

" _Bravo_ , Potter," Snape said, his voice both sneering and perversely admiring. "But I would suggest not running headlong into penury. Consider that friendly advice. As Dumbledore said, you are playing a very dangerous game. Lucius Malfoy for one won't like being upstaged, especially by the likes of you."

"Would he care about Umbridge's fate?" Harry asked.

"He cares little for the woman personally, only considering her a useful means of attacking you and Dumbledore," Snape said. "He will raise a fuss about what Ayanami did, if only to hurt you."

"I don't get it," Ron said, looking at Rei. "You've got all these powers. Why don't you use them to get rid of the Death Eaters, make Fudge leave you alone?"

"And how long will it be before I am seen as a Dark Lady?" Rei asked. "An evil witch who rules by fear? I am already looked upon with some suspicion for my appearance. Voldemort infamously has red eyes and pale skin, as do I. And blue hair is not a natural hair colour. Should I try to use my power against the Death Eaters, especially the influential ones, how long would it be until they turn the Ministry against me? And, by association, Harry?"

"Ayanami is right, Weasley," Snape said. "Using her powers to intimidate the Ministry will in all likelihood backfire. You saw how fickle the public was towards Potter last year, during that Tri-Wizard Tournament debacle. In fact, you yourself seemed to turn your back on him quite swiftly, if memory serves me correctly."

Ron gritted his teeth at the reminder, one that Snape seemed to take some perverse pride in needling him with. Harry had forgiven him for that, but Ron hated the reminder that his jealousy nearly cost them a friendship.

"Severus," Dumbledore rebuked quietly but sharply. Then he said, "If we're lucky, Madame Bones will be able to clear Miss Ayanami's name. We'll even have Veritaserum used if we have to. But make no mistake, there will be fallout from this for some time."

* * *

Later, Harry and Rei were walking along the shores of the Black Lake. "I am sorry, Harry."

"You don't have to be, Rei. What Umbridge did to you…quite frankly, I wish you had turned her into LCL."

"So did I. But…my powers…how long before people truly start seeing me as Dark? As a monster?"

"Rei…you're not. You did all those things for us, for Shinji and Asuka, reviving all those people, bringing us somewhere where we'd be safe. Well, safer. You're not a monster, any more than you are a doll. Those who think otherwise, they're idiots. Then again, the world's full of them." Then he frowned. Using his money to buy influence was one thing, but there might be something else. Something rather dangerous. It was something Hermione mentioned offhandedly while they were heading to see Rei in the Hospital Wing. It was a bit of a crazy idea, but it might just work.

He wondered whether he could interest Rita Skeeter in a nice, juicy scandal involving Umbridge.

 **CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed that. The next chapter will be a bit of an interval in the story, where I want to do a bit more Shinji/Hermione, along with Harry/Rei and Asuka/Kaworu.**

 **BTW, finally, with this chapter, this story will surpass the wordcount of the largest Harry Potter/** ** _Evangelion_** **fanfic,** ** _Harry Potter: Fourth Child_** **.**

 **Incidentally, for all you** ** _Evangelion_** **fans, I've started a new crossover that I have updated alongside this chapter. It's called** ** _Anchor of Ultimecia_** **, AFAIK it's the first marked crossover between** ** _Evangelion_** **and** ** _Final Fantasy VIII_** **, and it features Shinji and Ultimecia shipping. Yes, you heard that right. For details, have a look at the fic…**

 **1\. Ironically enough, Ron is actually aping a line of Snape's, from (the sadly recently-deceased) Arsinoe de Blassenville's** ** _The Best Revenge_** **. For anyone looking for an excellent AU of the Harry Potter storyline, and a better Snape, give it a shot.**


	14. Chapter 13: Bonds- Screw the Hedgehog's

**CHAPTER 13:**

 **BONDS/SCREW THE HEDGEHOG'S DILEMMA!**

 _Ryoji Kaji had a date with destiny. Or rather, with an assassin's bullet. But before he did so, there was someone he wanted to talk to. And someone who wanted to talk to him._

 _In one of the disused shelters of the Geofront, he met the one he was going to meet. Only, he wasn't alone. "I thought I said you were to come alone," Kaji said._

 _"She came with me. Besides, Section 2 probably thinks we're making out in a hiding place," Harry said, his arm around Rei._

 _Kaji chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, I guess. I guess my assassin is going to want to wait until there's no witnesses. Believe it or not, assassins tend to wait until their target is alone, and technically, Rei's too valuable to SEELE's plans."_

 _"Human Instrumentality, right?" Harry asked. On Kaji's look, he added, "While I was in EVA Unit 01, at 400% synch…I spoke to Yui Ikari."_

 _"I guess you know some things, Harry," Kaji said. "I mean, I like to think of myself as an agent provocateur. But you, you've shaken things up in NERV and SEELE even more than I did. Anyway, I didn't really come here to talk about SEELE's plans. I guess I just wanted to say…goodbye."_

 _"Goodbye? Why?" Harry asked._

 _"Kaji was SEELE's spy. Nominally, he is working for the Japanese government to spy on NERV, but he abducted Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki so that he could be interrogated by SEELE," Rei said._

 _"Yeah, well, the truth is, I've been on nobody's side but my own, really," Kaji said with a rueful smile. "I've been trying to find out the truth about Second Impact, and the Angels, not to mention SEELE. The problem is, I've pissed off SEELE and Gendo Ikari. One or the other have sent an assassin. Probably SEELE. They detest disobedience, and have a bad habit of trying to kill people who piss them off, and who have outlived their usefulness."_

 _"Look," Harry said, "I can help you. I can use magic to help you."_

 _"Harry…you're just one guy. And frankly, SEELE is taking a very unhealthy interest in you, especially since that business with Zeruel. If you interfere, they might abduct you, take you to a SEELE lab. No, this way is better. This way…Misato can continue the fight, and so can you guys. Harry…I've already sent a message to Misato for her. But…I need you to give one to Asuka. I know she's infatuated with me, but she's too young for me, obviously. I know this will break her heart…but tell her, from me, to find someone else. Tell her to find someone who can love her for who she really is. And tell her to fight for the truth." Kaji's eyes looked over to Rei. "Rei…you are not a doll. I know what you are, but…that doesn't define who you are. I'm glad you and Harry are getting closer. You deserve better than what Gendo intends for you."_

 _"Kaji," Harry said, "this is stupid! Why do you want to die?"_

 _"Besides helping protect you? Doing this helps expurgate my sins," Kaji said quietly. "After Second Impact, my brother and I joined a group of looters, but I got caught. I was threatened by the soldiers into giving up my group's location in exchange for my life, but when I was going to be killed anyway…I escaped. But my brother and my friends had been murdered by the soldiers, though in a sense, they were also murdered by me. I guess this is my penance for that. Harry, Rei…good luck. I leave the future in your hands."_

* * *

 _About twenty minutes later, Kaji was standing in front of one of the ventilation fans servicing the Geofront. He'd be damned if he was going to face his demise on any other terms than his own._

 _As the figure approached, Kaji turned to face them, smiling, unconcerned even as the figure raised a revolver. "Hi. You're a little late, aren't you?"_

 _As last words were concerned, they weren't exactly bad ones, Kaji reflected, shortly before the bullet smashed through his skull, painting the fan blades with his blood and brains. Still smiling even as death claimed him, Kaji collapsed to the floor._

* * *

 _Asuka's reaction was fairly predictable. Denial and anger were what she expressed, with her demanding why Harry didn't do anything. She fled into her room, slamming the door shut, and sobbing loudly in mourning for the adolescent infatuation of her life._

 _Misato reacted in a similar manner, though her anger was more directed at Kaji and herself. Harry and Shinji moved to comfort her as best as they could. And she accepted it, weeping as Harry and Shinji held her, the children becoming the comforting parents for once. She kept on calling Kaji a fool in her grief._

 _Harry stayed the night, sleeping on the couch, normally sleeping in accommodation on the NERV grounds. But tonight, he needed to. A good man had died, and he wanted to be there, for Shinji and Misato, if nobody else. Meanwhile, he thought of Rei, who had gone back to her own apartment. What did Kaji mean when he alluded to knowing what Rei was?_

* * *

Walking down towards Hogsmeade (it was a weekend, after all), Kaworu looked at his girlfriend. "You seem troubled, Asuka."

"I'm always troubled, Kaworu. Ever since my mother nearly strangled me, and then hung herself, well, I've been pretty damned troubled. I'm…I'm just thinking of Kaji. I wish Rei had been able to revive him during Third Impact," Asuka sighed. "I mean, being with you since we ended up on this world, it's made me realise how _verdammt_ childish I was. I thought I was all grown up. _Mein Gott_ , he must have been embarrassed by my advances. I wish he was alive if only so I can apologise to him."

"Sadly, that is impossible. I only revived because I was a Nephilim myself, and my death was shortly before Third Impact. I am truly sorry, Asuka. Ryoji Kaji sounded like a fine man. But you have to make do with me."

Asuka chuckled. "Well, you're a looker, vaguely gay vibe aside…"

"I like to consider myself pansexual."

"Okay, anyway, besides that, you're a genuinely sweet guy, and you're pretty smart. Okay, we met at a pretty bad time for me, and then you had to go and enter Terminal Dogma to try and merge with Lilith for SEELE, but…"

"I understand. Very few relationships are perfect, after all," Kaworu said with a smile. "I am glad that you forgave me."

"So am I," Asuka said. "I'm glad Wondergirl brought you back. By the way, Shinji's coming to this, isn't he?"

"Yes. I believe he plucked up the courage to ask Hermione Granger to date him. And Kensuke's managed to hook up with Luna."

Asuka sniggered. "Between the weird otaku and the weird girl, they should be perfect. Harry and Rei are coming, aren't they?"

"Of course. I find this world truly fascinating, you know. It's a world that shows that Adam and Lilith's offspring may not necessarily be antagonistic, though to be fair, the wizards do hide themselves. Perhaps one day, they can out themselves to the world in a peaceful manner, miscreants like Voldemort aside."

"I don't think it's gonna happen," Asuka said. "This society's pretty stagnant. And humanity has a bad habit of attacking those they're jealous of." She thought to her home country, of Germany, and of the Holocaust, shuddering as she did so. Sadly, that was one thing both this world and her world had in common. And Voldemort's attitudes towards blood had too many resemblances to the Nazis and their policies for her liking.

"Possibly. But better to remain cautiously optimistic," Kaworu said.

"Don't you think Rei and Harry make a cute couple?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. She is truly fortunate to have him. And vice-versa. Harry has gained someone who will definitely see him for who he is, and not for this myth that sprung up around him. Rei has gained someone who looks past her Nephilim nature, and views her as something other than a doll."

"Merlin and Wondergirl…you know, after meeting that Tonks woman, I guess blue hair wouldn't be too out of place in the Wizarding World. I'm just wondering what their kids would be like. Weird but cute is all I can think of…"

* * *

Misato, who had opted to be Harry and Rei's chaperone (along with Shinji and Hermione, and even Ron and Ginny) for their Hogsmeade get-together (the others were being tailed rather more discreetly by members of the Order of the Phoenix), frowned. "Butterbeer? They serve this to kids?"

Hermione nodded. "The alcoholic content is low, lower than just about everything else that's alcoholic. I wouldn't drink too much of it, though. I remember poor Winky getting drunk on it."

"Winky?" Misato asked.

"She was a House Elf," Harry said. "She got rather cruelly dismissed by her previous owner, Barty Crouch Senior."

"Oh, right, like that Kreacher guy," Misato said. "And those ones Dumbledore sent to help us renovate the Chamber of Secrets. I think I'll go for a Butterbeer, then. I like a good beer, but I'm supposed to be chaperoning you guys."

"Plus, your liver does need a bit of a rest, Misato," Shinji said with a cheeky grin, only to get his ear pulled by a facetiously-irate Misato.

"Hey, he's got a point, Misato," Harry said. "I remember all those bloody Yebisu cans you had in your fridge."

Hermione blinked at Misato. "And you were the Operations Director of NERV?"

"Hey, I kept my professional life separate from my personal life," Misato said. "Besides, I drank a hell of a lot more back at university." Her face fell. "After what I saw, well, it's no wonder. I was catatonic for years after Second Impact. One of the last sights I saw of my father before the escape pod he sealed me into closed was of his skin hanging off his hands. He was like those photos you see of some of the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs. He didn't even say goodbye to me. I guess he didn't see the need to. He just wanted me to be safe. I woke up shortly afterwards, opened the pod…and found myself on the open sea, wings of light shooting into the sky, this godawful screeching in the air. The ironic thing was, Adam could have wiped out all life on Earth through Second Impact, according to what Kaji left me. SEELE arranged things so that Adam's effects were mitigated, but even so, Antarctica just vanished, half the world's populace were killed by the tsunami and the wars and everything else…" Misato sighed.

"You survived," Rei said. "We all did. We survived SEELE's machinations, as well as those of Gendo Ikari."

"Not everyone," Misato said.

"I know. And I am sorry I couldn't bring him back," Rei said.

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Ryoji Kaji," Harry said. "He and Misato used to be an item in university. Long story short, he was also Asuka's guardian by the time Asuka came to Japan. He did hook up again with Misato, shortly before I arrived in Tokyo-3. As it turned out, he was a spy for both the Japanese Government and SEELE. But in reality, he just wanted to find out the truth for himself. A good man, too. Do you want to make a toast to him?"

"Maybe," Misato said. "Actually, your godfather reminds me of him. Got that same devil-may-care attitude masking that pain."

"He has a lot of that," Harry said.

"We all do," Rei said. "I remember when I was being attacked by Armisael. She…I call her she because she appeared as me. She shared her pain with me…but I realised it was loneliness. Loneliness is a pain of its own kind. But the bonds we make…sometimes, we fear closeness because of the hurt it brings."

"The Hedgehog's Dilemma," Misato said. "Rits told me once while trying to help with Shinji."

"Hedgehog's what?" Ron asked.

"My mother told me that once," Hermione said. "Hedgehogs huddle together for warmth, right? But their spines mean that if they get too close, they get hurt. So some people keep others at a distance to avoid getting hurt. A Muggle philosopher called Schopenhauer thought that up as an analogy for human relationships."

"Bloody mental," Ron said.

Ginny scowled. "Actually, I know exactly what she means."

"The diary?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. I poured out everything to Tom…I still can't think of him as anything other than Tom, even if he was evil. And you'd think even a diary that can talk back would be a good friend to have. I thought I was close to him." Ginny looked rather glum at the reminder. "I certainly got hurt by spines, though it was a pretty nasty hedgehog."

"To say the least," Hermione said with a shudder, remembering her time spent petrified.

"Enough about him," Harry said. "We're here to have a good time, aren't we?"

The others nodded, and they got on with their break. A time to forget, if only temporarily, the trials and travails they had gone through already. And, of course, those yet to come…

 **CHAPTER 13 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Just a nice little chapter, a bit of an interlude in the story, and the last chapter for quite a while. And because I didn't have much of Kaji interacting with Harry, I thought I'd have him doing so. I took Kaji's backstory from the manga version of** ** _Evangelion_** **.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Demon Lord Cashmere Snow** **: Look, give me a bit of artistic licence to overlook the social niceties of Japanese society. Anyway, in the dub at least, I think Shinji starts calling Rei by her first name.**

 **perfectshade** **: A nuanced and flawed but ultimately good Dumbledore is easier and healthier for me to write normally than a bashable one. While I do write stories with an evil Dumbledore, those are where they suit the story. I usually write stories with a well-meaning but all-too-flawed Dumbledore, as it's easier. Ironically, I am writing that very sort of Dumbledore (well-meaning but flawed) for** ** _Henry Ashford and the Goblet of Fire_** **, and he'll end up an antagonist (not a villain: he just opposes how Harry is being raised by Alexia Ashford in that story, and that will bring him into conflict with them both). BTW, you misspelled 'whether', but in an amusing way. Did you know that a 'wether' is actually a castrated goat? This is the nickname Serafall Leviathan gives Dumbledore in** ** _Fall to Zenith_** **when she turns him into a Prinny.**

 **Temporal Knight** **: Part of the story will be Rei working herself up to use her powers to stop Voldemort. She's afraid of her own power, and as the incident with Umbridge shows, using it with impunity could also have consequences. As for turning Umbridge into LCL, Fudge would no doubt cry foul, even if they couldn't find a body. And given his sending Umbridge to Hogwarts in canon on frankly flimsy pretexts, he would take any pretext to throw his weight around. Finally, I'm sure I mentioned it earlier, but both Yui and Kyoko now have Nephilim bodies (their new bodies are composed partly of matter from the Evangelions they were part of), so they can use magic. Kyoko just needed to have a crash-course in DADA, courtesy of Snape.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	15. Chapter 14: The Power of Words - Of

**CHAPTER 14:**

 **THE POWER OF WORDS/OF PAINFUL TRUTHS**

 _Harry had heard of the cliché of one's life flashing before his eyes, but it wasn't until he piloted Unit 01 against Zeruel that he experienced it. Rei couldn't pilot it (when she tried, she nearly vomited from the feedback), and it kept on rejecting those damned Dummy Plugs. Harry was, in a way, grateful: he had witnessed what had happened when Gendo ordered it activated when Bardiel invaded Unit 03. He knew why Shinji was angry, why he had quit NERV. But that meant that Unit 01 was without a pilot, and Asuka and Rei's attempts at stopping Zeruel failed miserably._

 _Which was why, reluctantly, Ritsuko and Gendo allowed him to pilot Evangelion Unit 01. He didn't know how to synchronize with the massive humanoid machine, but somehow, he'd managed it. It was a strange sensation, too. It felt almost like he was one with the machine, but also like there was someone standing just behind him, accepting him here. The strange warm feeling of the LCL in his lungs didn't help matters, with the high oxygen content of the liquid making him feel a bit euphoric._

 _When Harry got a 68% synch rate, he knew Ritsuko and Gendo were surprised. He was too._

 _The battle that followed was strange, to say the least. It felt like, every so often, he became briefly one with the Evangelion, and he heard the astonished voice of Maya Ibuki yelping that his synch ratio was spiking. The Angel merely fought back with its razor sharp 'arms', and blasts of energy. Then, another blast sent the Evangelion to the ground, and pain spiking through Harry's body. And that's when Harry heard the voice_.

Listen to me. I'm letting you pilot me because…I see you're like Shinji. All that loss and pain, and yet, you act in spite of it. But I need you to do something very dangerous. Otherwise, this monster will wipe out all humanity.

What do you want me to do? _Harry asked, coughing up blood into the LCL. Listening to voices in his head…he wasn't sure whether he should, but he didn't have anything left to lose_.

Oh, good. You can hear me. It must be the Angel biology within you. You're like a Nephilim. Just…tap into your magic. Let it flow through the synchronization link. With any luck, it'll boost our synchronization to the levels needed for me to end this monster. And hopefully not end in an Impact event.

 _After that, it was a blur. Then, his life flashed before his eyes…along with someone else's. A young woman's. He caught flashes and glimpses of another life, of younger versions of people he had seen in NERV, like Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki, a toddler Shinji…and Gendo. Oh dear_ _ **God**_ _, he did_ _ **NOT**_ _need to see a naked Gendo Ikari having sex with whoever he was sharing memories with, even if Gendo wasn't wearing the child molester beard and glasses. And yet, he had._

 _And then, finally, he was on the shore of a lake, in the summer, the chirping of cicadas filling the air. The sunlight glittered off the surface of the water in a beautiful manner. He was sitting on a bench, and someone else was sitting right next to him._

 _"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked. Harry turned to face his companion. She was a young woman, perhaps in her mid to late twenties, short brown hair framing gentle features. Features that were disturbingly familiar to him. "Even a ruined world has beautiful things to it. Like the girl you love. I'm sorry I didn't let her pilot me, but…I don't think it would have worked well. She was designed to be a disposable, adequate pilot. Only you and Shinji can synch with me very well, you because of your magic, and me, because…well, we knew each other long ago. I am the one who fills the gaping void in his heart."_

 _Harry, after a moment, asked, "Who are you? I mean, aside from EVA Unit 01? And why do you look like Shinji? Or Rei?"_

 _"There's a very good reason for that. Rei Ayanami is my daughter, so to speak. And Shinji is my son." She turned to face Harry, and smiled gently. "I'm Dr Yui Ikari. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Harry Potter…"_

* * *

"I have good news and bad news," Dumbledore announced to the members of NERV, along with Harry. They were currently in NERV's temporary base in the Chamber of Secrets. "The bad news is that Fudge is definitely out for Miss Ayanami's blood, and is trying to move for a hearing, if not a full-blown trial, and he has support from many prominent Death Eaters. The good news is that Madam Bones is on our side, in this issue at the very least. In truth, few people liked Umbridge, and many feared her. Madam Bones is currently gathering supporters to stymie the hearing."

"Would a public scandal help?" Harry asked. "If making it public that Umbridge was using Blood Quills on students helps, should we do so?"

"Yes, though it'd be dangerous. And with the Ministry controlling _The Daily Prophet_ …"

"We don't need the _Prophet_ ," Harry said. "Luna's dad owns _The Quibbler_ , right? And she got one of Umbridge's detentions. And Rita Skeeter owes Hermione a favour after last year. She told me that, after I disappeared to that other universe, Hermione found a beetle that turned out to be Rita Skeeter. She was an unregistered Animagus."

"Which explains how she was able to get all that juicy gossip," Remus Lupin mused. " _The Quibbler_ 's not exactly a credible publication, though."

"It's still quite widely read," Dumbledore said. "I read it, partly for entertainment, and partly because there are grains of truth in what Xenophilus and his daughter write at times. _Witch Weekly_ is also another possibility, but as it is published by the same publishers as _The Daily Prophet_ , it may not be easy to get out. I see the merit in what Harry wants to do. It's risky, but it will help muddy the waters, especially if public opinion turns against Fudge. I will talk to Madam Bones about it, make sure it doesn't jeopardise her investigation into Umbridge's conduct. We don't want to alienate one of our few allies placed high in the Ministry."

"Maybe I should help," Misato said. "I often had to draft press releases after each and every NERV operation. That was a bloody nightmare."

"The biggest obstacle to helping Miss Ayanami is what she used against Umbridge," Dumbledore said. "Using what seems like a powerful Legilimency spell on someone as an attack is going to raise questions. Madam Bones has agreed with me that we are claiming it to be a technique used in desperation. Which isn't far from the truth."

"She's alive," Rei said quietly. "That is more than that vile woman deserves. Even now, I still have many of her memories within my mind. She is disgusting. She is as evil as one can get without killing or raping someone. And she hid it behind a saccharine sweetness, a façade of politeness. Even Gendo was more honest than that. He never lied to me about my purpose, or his disdain for Shinji."

"Umbridge sets the bar pretty low," Remus said. "At least this isn't a total disaster. Is Umbridge likely to recover?"

"The healers at St Mungo's are not hopeful," Dumbledore said. "Then again, many of them don't like her either, and are only giving her the minimum of treatment that their oaths demand. The best prognosis I could get was that she may recover in some months. It may be that Fudge sends someone else to be a High Inquisitor in the meantime. There are a few candidates, including Percy Weasley. He wouldn't try anything as bold as attacking students, but he would certainly be almost as zealous in digging up dirt, given his overwhelming loyalty to Fudge. Still, he would be the lesser of two evils. Better someone officious and pedantic as an enemy, than someone malicious and sadistic."

* * *

In Dumbledore's office a little later, Dumbledore had Harry and Rei sitting down. "I think it's past time that I told you a couple of things, Harry. I have considered whether to tell you for some time. There are two things of note. The first is something you asked me long ago, at the end of your first year here, after saving the Philosopher's Stone."

"Why Voldemort came after me," Harry said.

"Yes. I put off telling you that truth because I wasn't sure that you were ready. The second had to do with your scar, something I only suspected, a suspicion that became stronger when you showed me Tom Riddle's diary. I am telling you these things because I discreetly tested your Occlumency capabilities, and those of Miss Ayanami. I believe that the events that you went through on that alternate future, perhaps even Instrumentality, actually boosted your innate Occlumency to the point where I can safely tell you these things. That, and what Miss Ayanami removed from your scar."

"Rei told me it was part of Voldemort's soul," Harry said.

"Indeed. Some of what I am about to tell you is speculation based on my own researches. I am going to be vague about certain subjects for your safety, but I promise you that you will know everything important." Dumbledore then leaned back, gathered himself, and said, "Firstly, why Voldemort targeted you and your family, Harry. Do you remember what happened at the end of your third year, during that whole business with Sirius and Pettigrew? Sybil Trelawney uttered a prophecy about Pettigrew that came true, and I told you that that was, to my knowledge, the second true prophecy she had made."

Harry's eyes widened. "She made a prophecy before that…about me," he said, catching on quickly.

"About someone who might be you," Dumbledore corrected gently. "The prophecy stated that someone with the ability to vanquish Voldemort would be born in the dying hours of July, to those who had 'thrice defied him'. Voldemort would mark him as his equal, but he would have power Voldemort knew not. The final part of the prophecy states that one must kill the other, for 'neither can live while the other survives'."

After a moment, Harry said, "Thanks to that prophecy, my parents are dead?"

"Not quite. Voldemort only heard part of that prophecy through one of his spies, and he is currently seeking to steal the full prophecy in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore said. "He believes knowing the full prophecy will give him an advantage. Voldemort chose to act on that prophecy. He believed it, even if you and I do not put much stock in it."

"It depends on the prophecy," Rei said. "The Secret Dead Sea Scrolls were treated as prophecy in many regards by both Gendo and SEELE, but in truth, they are more akin to an instruction manual, from what I know of them."

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed. Voldemort could very well have chosen not to act on it. But his paranoia and refusal to countenance any rivals drove him to kill Harry. That being said, there was one other the prophecy could have referred to: Neville Longbottom."

"Neville?!" Harry yelped.

"Why choose Harry?" Rei asked.

"I believe it is because Voldemort felt, strangely enough, a kinship with Harry. Harry may or may not have told you this, but Voldemort, despite his pretensions to blood purity, is actually a Halfblood, though he would never admit it to any of his followers, save for a select few. Harry is a Halfblood too, and that is why I believe Voldemort chose to attack the Potters."

"And the scar…that is the marking him as an equal?" Rei asked.

"One would think," Dumbledore said. "Sadly, even without the prophecy, Voldemort would continue to hound Harry, as he cannot countenance being defeated, especially by an infant. And this leads into my next topic, for that night, something disturbing happened. I don't have the complete story, but I know enough to speculate. I believe that Voldemort has used a rather foul form of magic to ensure his immortality. I believe it to be something known as a Horcrux."

"A Horcrux?" Harry asked.

"Yes. I will not repeat the full details of the ritual needed to create them. When I first read it, I was sick to my stomach, and I have seen many dark rituals written of in various tomes over the years. However, the upshot is that the ritual prepares the soul for a most heinous act: splitting the soul. And to split the soul, one must commit an act of cold-blooded murder. Once the soul is split, it is then put into a container."

"Like Koschei the Deathless," Rei mused. On seeing Dumbledore's look, she said, "I once read a book of Russian folk tales when I was bored at school."

"Who's Koschei the Deathless?" Harry asked.

"He is the main character of a Russian story about a man who hid his soul within a needle, which itself was hidden in many objects and animals, so that he would never die. It is, as Miss Ayanami said, related. Indeed, many scholars believe that the tale was based on that of a Russian warlock who created a Horcrux," Dumbledore said. "Another comparable villain is Sauron and the One Ring from JRR Tolkien's works. One who uses a Horcrux will have their soul tethered to the mortal plane. But it is a half-life, as a wraith. And while Horcruxes are hardy, they are far from invincible, as you found out in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry."

"The Diary!" Harry realised. "It was a Horcrux!"

"Indeed. And, as you may have guessed, so too was your scar. I am almost certain that it was made accidentally. I believe that, though Voldemort intended to create a Horcrux on that night, he intended to do so with your death. I also believe that he had created so many Horcruxes, his soul was shattered when your mother's protection saved your life, and a fragment of his soul ended up within you. I have spent years considering ways to remove it, especially in ways that would not kill you. Sadly, the ways that I had found would have proved lethal: Basilisk venom, Fiendfyre, the Killing Curse…after Voldemort's revival at Little Hangleton, I began working on a rather convoluted scheme that might ensure your survival." His blue eyes met Rei's crimson eyes. "Thanks to you, Miss Ayanami, that scheme is no longer needed. True, you will still have to face Voldemort, Harry, but with the Horcrux removed, you stand a far better chance of being able to live a long and, hopefully, happy life."

"Even with this thing gone, I still have to face him?" Harry asked bleakly.

"Even without the prophecy, Voldemort will not rest until he is dead, or you are," Dumbledore said solemnly. "But you will not be facing him alone. You have friends willing to fight with you. All Voldemort has are underlings he sends to fight for him. And as I said before, Voldemort cannot understand love. You, however, do. And despite my disquiet at your abilities, Miss Ayanami, I feel that you are a good person for Harry to be with."

"He makes me feel wanted…loved…human," Rei said quietly. "It was like that with Shinji, but he is more of a brother to me. Harry…I did not know what love was before I met him. I thought I loved Gendo as a father-figure, but…it was misplaced devotion, not love. I think what I feel is love."

"Rei, speaking as someone who has seen and experienced love and loss, I believe it is too," Dumbledore said with a sad smile. "I hope that the pair of you have a long and happy life together. I think both of you deserve happy endings…"

 **CHAPTER 14 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Okay, the story's moving forward again, and Dumbledore's owning up to Harry and Rei. We'll be skipping ahead to the attack on Arthur Weasley in the next chapter, which, again, won't be for some time. Hope you liked the scene with Yui at the beginning as well.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Sean Malloy-1** **: I haven't decided, and his pairing takes a backseat to the rest of the story. Sorry.**

 **Infernus est animo** **: I update only when I've written a new chapter. If motivation is lacking, then new chapters may be some time coming. I never give definite dates for new chapters unless I have written them already (unlike some authors). To do otherwise is silly, masochistic, or both. Do not ask for a definite date for the next chapter, as refusal may offend.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	16. Chapter 15: Envenomation - Le Morte

**CHAPTER 15:**

 **ENVENOMATION/LE MORTE D'ARTHUR**

 _"So, let me get this straight," Harry said. "You're Shinji's mother, as well as that bastard Gendo's wife. You allowed yourself to get sucked into the giant robot so that you could secure your son's future, as well as avoid an assassination attempt by these SEELE people. But Gendo didn't follow your plan."_

 _"Yes. Believe me, Harry, I didn't intend for this to happen. Had I known what lengths Gendo would go to to isolate my son…the best I can do is help protect him, as EVA Unit 01. Had I not been absorbed, SEELE would have murdered me." Yui looked pensive, looking at the sun-dappled lake they were standing near. "And I left specific instructions with Gendo, telling him what my plan was, and what to do with Shinji. Pushing him away was NOT part of the plan. The desire for attachment helps strengthen synchronisation, true, but all Gendo has done has made my son even more of a mess than he needed to be."_

 _"He's nearly quit NERV, you know. I told him to just take a while to cool off after what happened to Toji. Gendo thinks he quit, but Shinji's just trying to get his head back into working order. They ask so much of him. He reminds me a little of me."_

 _"True," Yui said. "What you told me of your life…I'm not sure who has it worse. You may not have to save the world, but you have to deal with unwanted fame and a psychopath wanting you dead. But Shinji…saving the world rests on his shoulders, along with that of Rei and Asuka. We ask so much of them. And I have to ask much of you. I want you to take care of them. Let Shinji know where I am…that I love him so much, that I'm proud of him…but there's so much at stake. It's not just the Angels who are the enemy, but SEELE, and my own husband. And revealing too much too soon may have SEELE and Gendo target you. Harry, for what it's worth, thank you for helping my son, and the others. One day…I'd like to tell him that myself, if I can. But for now…well, please do it, for me."_

 _"I will."_

 _"Thank you." She looked around. "Our time grows short. Zeruel is now dead, and I have ingested his S2 Engine, his core. That ought to scare those old farts." The impish smile on her face left Harry in mind a little of Sirius. "Good luck, Harry. I hope that you can find a way back to your world, and your friends…"_

* * *

The ruckus over Umbridge was mercifully brief, even if strong. Amelia Bones managed to persuade Fudge to wash his hands of Umbridge, especially once the issue about the Blood Quills came out. And for all Fudge's paranoia about Dumbledore possibly raising an army, and Harry and NERV being part of it, the truth was, he didn't want to countenance his Senior Undersecretary deliberately using a Blood Quill as a method of torture. He knew that would set a bad precedent, and so he disavowed Umbridge, politically if not morally.

Even so, letters were exchanged between various parties about NERV. Fudge and some parts of the Wizengamot made noises about Rei being a Dark Creature. Harry never got to the point where he needed to use his money, but even so, these were somewhat fraught times.

Not everything was so problematic: Misato and Sirius had begun dating, as had Ritsuko and Maya. Yui had begun to drift towards Lupin, of all people: he reminded her of the qualities in Gendo that had attracted her to him in the first place, the vulnerability, the familiarity with being hated. Remus Lupin, though, was far better than Gendo. And Yui, being a biologist, was absolutely fascinated with lycanthropy. Sirius once unwisely remarked that he wasn't sure whether Yui wanted to jump Lupin or vivisect him. This was something that got him pranked within an inch of his life by Remus, and Yui, who proved to be a dab hand with certain chemicals and their effects on the bowels.

Unfortunately, shortly before Christmas, they got news that shook them all to the core.

* * *

The day itself wasn't so bad. In fact, it was quite good. It was soon before Christmas, and they had been enjoying the snow. For Rei, Shinji, Kaworu, and Asuka, seeing snow was very much a novelty: Japan was in the grip of perpetual summer in their world, and although Asuka had lived in Germany, the climate there no longer supported winters cold enough to bring snow. They had only really seen snow in books and videos and pictures.

Asuka had gotten into a dispute with the Weasley twins, fiery redhead versus the mischievous redheads. Asuka had challenged them to a snowball duel, which Fred and George accepted. Kaworu and Shinji had gotten roped into Asuka's side, with Hermione going along with it. She was dating Shinji, and she got along quite well with Asuka, being both of an intelligent sort. In fact, Hermione was jealous of Asuka getting a doctorate before she was 14, though not in a malicious way. The two girls clicked, and Harry was glad, as Asuka seemed to need someone she could talk to on her intellectual level, and Hermione could at least follow what Asuka spoke of.

Fred and George, meanwhile, had roped in Ron and Ginny, along with Lee Jordan, into their snowball duel. Rei and Harry were standing at the sidelines, watching it happen. Shinji had remarked once that Rei reminded him vaguely of a _yuki-onna_ , the snow-woman or snow-fairy of Japanese mythology. Certainly, Rei had some of the inhuman beauty many of the _yuki-onna_ were said to have.

There was a child-like wonder to the former Pilots, who hadn't experienced snow before. Even Rei actually made her own snowball, which she hurled at Harry. Harry flung out a hand, and the snowball exploded on an AT Field. He laughed. He had been testing his ability to create one, but that was the first time it had been combat-tested, so to speak.

However, Harry and Rei decided they wanted some private time, so they wandered around the grounds, until they came to Hagrid's hut. Harry realised, with a stab of guilt, that he hadn't seen Hagrid, lessons aside, since Hagrid finally came back from his mission. Part of it was because of the fallout over Umbridge being dealt with by Rei. So he rapped on the door.

The burly form of Hagrid poked his head out, and smiled. "Harry! It's been a while! I was wonderin' whether you were goin' to come and see me anymore!"

"Sorry, Hagrid, it's been frantic," Harry said. "Hagrid, allow me to introduce Rei Ayanami."

"Ah, yer with those NERV people," Hagrid said. "Strange Muggles, but that Doctor Akagi and Doctor Ikari like to listen to me talkin' about all sorts of beasts. Doctor Ikari told me yer like her daughter or summat, right?"

Rei nodded. "It is rather complicated, but that would be a good way of explaining it. Harry spoke well of you, Mr Hagrid."

"None of that 'mister' nonsense," Hagrid said. "Just Hagrid." He turned to Harry. "I heard 'bout that business with Umbridge. Good riddance ter bad rubbish, I say. I'm sorry you had ter deal with the fallout, but Umbridge and her like don' like people like me."

Rei smiled reassuringly. "Like you, Hagrid, I am only part-human. I can understand why you don't like her. She called me half-breed filth before I…disabused her of her notions."

"You must've disabused her pretty hard," Hagrid said. "I asked Dumbledore 'bout that, and apparently she's only now woken up. Doesn't remember a thing, though."

"Thank Merlin for that," Harry muttered. "Looks like Asuka was better at coping with what Arael did to her than Umbridge."

"Arael?"

"I have…abilities, Hagrid," Rei said. "Abilities many would consider unnatural, even in Hogwarts."

Hagrid shrugged. "Well, as long as you ain't Dark, or in Slytherin, that's fine by me. Does that Kaworu boy have those abilities?"

"A few," Rei admitted. "We are of the same kind of being. But…my life was empty, save for the purpose given to me. Dr Ikari's husband, Gendo Ikari, wanted me to sacrifice myself for his plans. Shinji, who is effectively my brother, gave me more than that. Harry…he made me feel even more wanted. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, he rescued me from my destiny."

"He's a good lad, he is," Hagrid said. "Jus' like his parents."

* * *

They made further small talk with Hagrid, before excusing themselves. Rei and Harry began walking back to the castle, Rei huddling into Harry's side as they trudged through the snow. "It's almost like something out of a fairytale," Rei murmured, looking at the castle ahead of them.

"People would think I was living one," Harry said. "Learning magic in an old castle? It's like something out of a book. But it's no fairytale."

"No. Humans are more complicated than that," Rei said. "I knew that, even before I formed bonds with Shinji, and with you." She looked to the cloudy sky, as snow drifted down. "Complicated and messy and painful…but exquisite and beautiful too. I remember what Armisael said to me when she was fusing with me. She wished to share her pain with me…but that pain was not physical pain. It was loneliness, an ache of the heart and soul."

"I remember that. When I was in the entry plug with you, I actually felt…it was almost like a Dementor attack, only it was loneliness instead of depression…and, well, it didn't affect me like a Dementor did. It made me want to save you all the more," Harry said.

Rei smiled sadly. "And I remember what happened afterwards. Dr Akagi euthanizing me on Gendo's orders, but actually backing up my memory."

"You said not to think any worse of you for knowing the truth," Harry said. "And I didn't. What did you do to the clones, anyway?"

"I absorbed them into my body during Third Impact," Rei said. "I can extrude them if I need to." A pensive look came over her features. "Harry…do my powers frighten you?"

"Of course not! I mean, if they were used by someone else, someone not as good as you, yes. But you?" Harry shook his head. "Rei, you're not a monster. You're more like a goddess. I mean, you're basically Lilith in human form. And…that's not a bad thing. You're a good person. And you _are_ a person, even with those powers, even part-Angel. You're not a freak, any more than I am."

Rei sighed. "I know. I just feel…some fear towards myself. I know you're saying this because you have had experience with being considered a freak, by your relatives. I might consider paying them a visit."

"Rei, we don't need that." Harry spun her to face him. "I don't like them for what they did to me…but quite frankly, once Voldemort is dealt with, I only want to see them once more, to say goodbye and good riddance. Because I have everything I need here. You, Hogwarts, NERV…that's all I need."

After a moment, Rei and Harry leaned together and kissed again amongst the falling snowdrifts. But as they broke apart, they heard Asuka yell, "HARRY! WONDERGIRL!"

The redhead was running up to them, and skidded to a halt. The disturbed look on her face spoke volumes: something had happened. "What happened, Asuka?" Harry asked.

"McGonagall just came rushing out of the castle," Asuka panted. "Something's gone wrong! The Weasleys…their father's dying!"

Rei and Harry looked at each other, before they rushed off with Asuka in tow. "What happened?" Harry asked.

"I dunno, but apparently he was guarding something in the Ministry of Magic," Asuka said as she jogged alongside them. "I think McGonagall was going to cast something called a Patronus, but I said I'd find you myself. Apparently he got bitten by a _verdammt_ snake or something. Got taken to some place called Mungo's or something."

"St Mungo's," Harry said. "The Wizarding Hospital. That's where they took Umbridge. Is he gonna be okay?"

"How the hell would I know? McGonagall just said he was dying, and brought the Weasleys to use the Floo. Hermione and Ron are waiting for us!"

* * *

Sometime later, Harry, Rei, Hermione, Asuka, Shinji, Misato (who was chaperoning them), and the Weasley children were in St Mungo's, hurrying down corridors. Harry felt his heart in his throat at the thought of Arthur Weasley dying. The Weasleys had been his friends since he first went to Hogwarts, with Ron being his first, and Molly helping him to find the Hogwarts Express. True, he'd had his ups and downs with them, especially Ron and Percy, but even so, the thought of one of them dying…

And a snake. Dumbledore had said that Voldemort wanted a prophecy within the Ministry of Magic. He remembered the snake, Nagini, that Harry had seen visions through during his fourth year. He realised that that may have been due to the Horcrux within his scar. Maybe he might have seen the attack, maybe he could have alerted someone, maybe, maybe, _maybe_ …

No. He may not have seen it at all. And they only said Arthur was dying, not that he was dead, and while there was life, there was…

Oh no.

The wails of Molly Weasley, like the lament of a banshee, came down the corridor as they entered. And it seemed like she was crying for more than critical injury. And when she saw them, and he saw the bleakness in her eyes, he knew, long before she sobbed it out.

"Arthur…Arthur is…he's…he's dead."

 **CHAPTER 15 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well. There you go. I managed to do what JK Rowling couldn't work up the courage to do. I knew Arthur Weasley was going to die now that I had removed the Horcrux. I had this planned for a while to give Rei a catalyst to use her powers to end this conflict for once and for all. This is basically the start of Rei's "NO MORE" moment.**

 **I'm hoping this chapter will push this story over the 100K views mark. Here's hoping.**

 **EMBARASSING EDIT: I accidentally called Gendo Ikari Yui's wife, not husband. Then again, in the _Angelic Days_ spinoff at least, not to mention fanfic, well, Yui tends to wear the pants, so to speak.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	17. Chapter 16: No More- Demons Run When a

**CHAPTER 16:**

 **NO MORE/DEMONS RUN WHEN A GOOD WOMAN GOES TO WAR**

 _Harry watched the tragedy play out below him in sadness, even as he helped Rei utilise a combined AT Field against their enemy. He was perched, along with Rei, on a ledge near the bottom of the Terminal Dogma shaft, the very one which Unit 01 and Unit 02 had plunged down as they wrestled, the latter under the control of Kaworu. He wasn't just a Nephilim: he was the last of the Angels, sent by SEELE to trigger Third Impact, but on SEELE's terms. All to fulfil their Human Instrumentality Project, the project Kaji had uncovered._

 _What made that sense of betrayal worse was his befriending them all. He was so genuinely nice, even though he knew he was about to betray them. Perhaps it was because he wanted to experience friendship before he died, either by causing Third Impact, or else at the hands of Shinji in Unit 01. Asuka had taken the betrayal badly: although he was the new pilot of Unit 02 and thus her replacement, he had made an especial effort to be nice to her, and her recent mental damage from Arael had made her vulnerable. Or perhaps it merely made her more receptive to a love that was truly genuine, and all the more painful because he always intended to betray them, saddened though he was to do so._

 _Harry could stand the betrayal a lot better, if his mind wasn't filled with a telepathic broadcast of the Beethoven rendition of_ Ode to Joy. _By the time this was over, he was going to be allergic to classical music._

 _Kaworu was currently being grasped in the hand of Unit 01, unresistingly, despite being a relatively short distance from his goal: Lilith. He looked up at Unit 01's face without fear, just a quiet sorrow. His voice seemed quiet, and yet it carried to where Harry and Rei were. "I am truly sorry it had to be this way, Shinji. My life in this form was always destined to end after a short period, shorter than even most Lilim's lives. It was because of that that I wished to treasure the bonds I could make."_

 _"_ Even though it meant breaking Asuka's heart?! _" Shinji demanded angrily through Unit 01's external speakers._

 _"Yes. Love can hurt as much as it sustains. You know this, Shinji. It is one of the great paradoxes of human emotion. It hurts me as much as it hurts her. But I am compelled to fulfil my destiny as Tabris, Angel of Free Will, and trigger Third Impact. Ironic, isn't it? The Angel of Free Will, made to dance to someone else's tune. This is why I ask this of you, Shinji. It is the last choice I intend to make. I am sorry that it falls onto you to do this…but that is your task as a Pilot of an Evangelion, isn't it? I am an Angel, and as such, I am a threat to your continued existence. I cannot die by my own hand…but I can die by yours."_

"…I can't."

 _"You must. The call to merge with Lilith grows ever stronger, Shinji. Before long, it will overcome my reason. Please. Do this…as a final request from a friend. That, and tell Asuka…I'm sorry."_

 _Shinji's shuddering breaths echoed all around Terminal Dogma, with the music coming to an end. Then, suddenly, EVA Unit 01's hand squeezed. Harry flinched as Kaworu's head popped off his crushed body, sailing aloft into the air on a fountain of blood, before gravity finally took hold, and it plunged into the lake of LCL below. Then, the sound of Shinji's sobbing began to echo around the vast chamber…_

* * *

 _Asuka stared at the screen in shock, as the interference disappeared, and the Blue Pattern was declared gone. The Angel…no,_ _ **Kaworu**_ _, was dead. That pretty boy that she made the mistake of falling for when she was sure that idiot Shinji wouldn't notice her…was their enemy. And now, he was dead._

 _Her first impulse was to rage, as she had done so many times before. Rage against Shinji for killing Kaworu. Then, a more rational part of her railed against SEELE for sending Kaworu to his death. Another part blamed Kaworu himself._

 _But then, she simply sagged into Misato, who caught her in a comforting embrace_. Like Mama, _Asuka thought almost deliriously. The thought of her mother, committing suicide after becoming deranged, caused her to start weeping. Misato just held her there, as Asuka wept, trying to comfort her charge. They had both lost the loves of their life, Asuka realised. They had both lost Kaji, and Asuka had lost Kaworu. But what Asuka had with Kaji, she was beginning to realise in some small part of her body, was merely adolescent infatuation. Kaworu had given her love…and had snatched it away._

 _Most looked upon Asuka with pity or sympathy, though at least one pair of eyes, hidden by tinted glasses, viewed her with contempt. Then again, Gendo Ikari was very good at viewing almost everyone with contempt…_

* * *

Rei Ayanami was no stranger to death. She had died twice herself, her soul funnelled into a clone body after each dalliance with oblivion, her fusions with Lilith being dangerously close to a third time. A part of her, until she met Harry, had even desired death, and with it, oblivion. Her life had no worth, no meaning, outside of being an Evangelion Pilot, and being the key to Instrumentality. She had witnessed death too many times. So too had Harry, as he had seen the dying moments of Quirrell, and of Cedric Diggory, and had distant memories of his parents' demise, memories brought to the fore by Dementors. She had witnessed the grief of others.

And yet, this seemed to hit home even more than those prior experiences ever had. Maybe it was because this had come at a time when her life had gained worth. Or maybe it was because she had gained something of a bond with the Weasleys. Not a strong bond per se, but they were bonded to her via Harry. Or maybe it was because Harry valued them as a family that he never truly had, given that Voldemort had murdered his parents, and the Dursleys were vile parodies of humanity who shouldn't ever count as family, or even humans, by any metric.

She had met Arthur Weasley at 12 Grimmauld Place, and found him a pleasant man, albeit one who seemed to be somewhat out of date when it came to the very technology he was supposed to be the Ministry of Magic's leading expert on. He had excitedly interrogated Misato, Ritsuko, and Fuyutsuki on technology, and seemed awed by the concept of Evangelions and the Magi. Enthusiastic and a little bumbling…and now, he couldn't be those things again.

Rei looked at the too-still body on the bed, surrounded by the Weasleys, with Molly and Ginny loud in their lamenting. Even Percy had come in person when he had heard about what happened. Apparently, Percy had distanced himself from the Weasleys over a disagreement over the Ministry's stance on Voldemort's return, and Percy had been working for Fudge and Umbridge. But he seemed genuinely upset at his father's death, the pedantic redhead realising that he had said things to his father he now regretted, and could not take back because of Arthur's demise.

"Rei…" Harry asked quietly, as they hung back from the grieving Weasleys. "Can't you bring him back?"

"I cannot," she replied softly.

"Why not? You were able to bring back Misato, Ritsuko, Kaworu, and the others during Third Impact!" Harry demanded, incredulously, even angrily.

"That was different. Misato and Ritsuko had only just died, and Kaworu had the soul of Adam, not to mention he was more Angel than wizards here are. And if I attempt to do so…I was able to bring Misato and Ritsuko and Kaworu back because I had energy to spare during Third Impact. If I try to do that, I may cause another Impact event…only I cannot use the excess energy to travel to another world. Do you understand? In trying to bring Arthur Weasley back, I could very well start Instrumentality…only without an exit clause. In any case, I can feel it. His soul resides deep within the Chamber of Gauf now. I am sorry."

Harry looked down, ashamed at his outburst, unable to look Rei in the eye. Asuka looked over at Rei with sympathy. "So, there's some things Wondergirl can't do after all." There was no jeering in Asuka's tone, no reproach or schadenfreude. If anything, she seemed sad about it.

Rei walked gingerly over to some seats over in the corner, where Misato was sitting, talking on an enchanted mirror she had been given to Dumbledore. "…saying it was some sort of snake bite, but the venom was nothing like they had seen before. I asked the Healer for a sample, so Snape and Ritsuko can analyse it, just in case we can make an antidote for later."

Dumbledore nodded. " _It seems likely that the culprit is Nagini, Voldemort's familiar. Given what I suspected about her true nature, I didn't think he would risk sending her to infiltrate the Ministry, but I underestimated his desperation. Or perhaps his confidence. And Arthur paid for my folly with his life._ " Rei nearly made a cold remark, but she saw the self-reproach on Dumbledore's face. She could do little to him, short of using Arael's abilities on him, what he wasn't already doing to himself.

Then again, she felt the bitter sting of self-reproach herself. Was it a lack of confidence in her control that prevented her from reviving Arthur? Or was it cowardice?

She had all this power, a power that put her on a par with a deity. And yet, she was too afraid to use it. Even if it meant her friends dying.

* * *

After they made it back to Hogwarts, Rei found herself wandering the corridors of Hogwarts aimlessly and listlessly. She had told Harry she wanted some time to herself, and bless him, he allowed her to go her own way.

The dark suicidal thoughts that had plagued her, the death-urge, Thanatos, were coming back. Only the thought of hurting Harry by succumbing to those thoughts stayed her hand. But her thoughts and mood was dark when she wandered into an empty classroom near the library, thinking she needed time to herself. Normally, she would have loved to have read in the library, but she wasn't in a reading mood.

To her surprise, though, the classroom wasn't quite empty. In the middle of it was an ornate mirror, with elaborate writing decorating the arched top. It was in European lettering, but the words were nonsensical…and yet…

She shook her head, and looked into the mirror, only to freeze. Her red eyes widened at the sight before her. She turned to look behind her, only to find nobody there. But when she looked in the mirror…

She was there, with Harry. And there, with her, were Shinji, Asuka, Kaworu, Yui, Gendo (only smiling warmly and genuinely), friends from NERV, Tokyo-3 and Hogwarts, all standing behind her. Dead or alive, it didn't matter. And what was more, Rei looked like Lilith. Clothed this time, but the distinctive wings and glowing skin was there, as they were when she had merged with the Second Angel. And everyone accepted her for it.

She stared into the mirror for a long time, and she didn't know how long. It was only the hand gently shaking her shoulder that brought her out of her reverie. She whirled to find Harry there, looking concerned. "Rei?"

"Harry? Why are you here?"

"It's almost dinner. I thought you might want a quiet one. Dobby told me of a place we could have one, and I saw you here on the Marauder's Map." Harry looked at the mirror. "I didn't realise this thing was still here."

"You know this thing?"

"The Mirror of Erised. See that writing? It's English, but reversed and changed around. It says, _I show not your face but your heart's desire._ I saw it in my first year. Saw my parents for the first time in it. Dumbledore said that the most content and happy man in the world would only see his own reflection. I saw my parents and my family, Ron saw himself as having achieved so many things he wanted like Head Boy, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of socks. I think he was lying, though."

"I see. It seems rather dangerous. It could ensnare anyone."

"Yeah, well, I don't know. Come on, Rei. I think you and I need to talk…"

* * *

As it turned out, they were going to a secret room that Dobby, a House Elf Harry knew, had called the 'Come and Go Room', though it was apparently also known as the Room of Requirement. Harry had to pace up and down near a particular painting while thinking of what he wanted, before a door appeared. They entered, to find a small, but lavishly-set table, complete with lit candelabra. He kept the door open, as Dobby, a small, bat-eared bug-eyed thing, appeared, bearing trays of food. Rei had met Dobby a couple of times before, and found him a little irritating, but genuinely enthusiastic.

Rei found, despite her sorrow, that she was actually quite hungry, and ate the small but well-prepared meal Dobby had brought in. Harry and Rei ate in silence. Eventually, all that was left was herself and Harry, facing each other in the candlelight. After a moment, Harry said, "You want to know why I did this?"

Rei nodded. "I can guess. You wanted to take my mind off Arthur Weasley. Am I correct?"

"Yes. It's also an apology. I snapped when I shouldn't have."

"I have dealt with worse anger, and yours was understandable," Rei said quietly. She hadn't felt anger at Harry's own temper, just self-reproach that she couldn't help Arthur Weasley. "Your apology, while appreciated, was unnecessary. He was like a father to you."

"Not quite. He wasn't like a father to me. But he and the Weasleys have treated me like family, Rei. And Ron and Ginny and the twins, not to mention Mrs Weasley and the others, they're hurting," Harry said morosely. "Ron was my first friend. We've had our ups and downs…but he still is my friend. And I don't like seeing him, seeing his family, like this. It took Mr Weasley dying for Percy to try and reconcile with them. I didn't want to see them in pain, Rei. It's because of Voldemort that this happened."

"I know. Harry, I was a little hurt, true…but I understood. Remember, we were united during Third Impact. I could see into your soul. I know you were angry on behalf of your friends, that you weren't thinking. But I am frightened of my own ability, Harry. If I wished to, I could unmake the world. Reduce the population of this world into LCL."

"…You're afraid of yourself, aren't you?" Harry asked. "It's not just your powers, you're worried about yourself."

Rei nodded miserably. Harry then asked for a lounge, and it appeared, seemingly out of the air. He got up, and gently led Rei over to the lounge. They sat down together, and Rei drew some comfort from the warmth of his body next to her own. "Rei, remember what I said earlier. You're not a monster. I just snapped out of anger, misplaced anger. I just want to be able to live my life normally. But I can't, not with Voldemort gunning for me, and everyone I hold dear."

Rei knew this, and wished she could do something to help. Her one wish, the one she wanted fulfilled with all her heart and soul, was to be of help against Voldemort. She had all that power, so why didn't she?

The answer? She was afraid. Afraid of becoming something Harry and all her other friends would hate. A monster.

But while she was afraid, people were dying. Good people like Arthur Weasley. She wasn't this afraid when piloting the Evangelion. So why should she be afraid now?

With that, came an epiphany. Arthur Weasley's death was the line in the sand. His was one death too many. She had the power to end this war. Already she knew.

She may not be able to bring souls back from bodies when reduced to LCL, not without causing Instrumentality…but she could still reduce a person to their soul and LCL without it turning into an Impact event. She could even turn a whole bunch of people into an Instrumentality-like state, albeit in a limited number. An immortal superbeing…but an impotent one.

 _No more_ , Rei thought, in two surprisingly powerful words _. No more deaths because of Voldemort. I will only hold back enough to prevent the Apocalypse. But with everything else, I am holding back no more._

 ** _No more_**.

 **CHAPTER 16 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And here you have it. Harry's outburst was originally meant to be spoken by Ginny, but I thought they'd have more impact from Harry. He isn't trying to hurt Rei, he's just upset over Arthur's death, and he regretted it as soon as he said it. I also wrote in some things to plug a few plot holes: Rei was only able to revive Misato and Ritsuko because their deaths were closer to Third Impact, and Kaworu because he was a Nephilim (and a more heavily Angel one at that). However, she can reduce people to LCL and clump their souls together in a smaller-scale Instrumentality without harm to the world…which will be key to the climax.**

 **And yes, the chapter title and the closing sentence is a reference to** ** _Doctor Who_** **.**

 **Well, this fic has surpassed 110K views now. Hopefully, it can get past 120K after this.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Reishin Amara** **: Someone else has done a very good one already,** ** _Shinji and the Doctor_** **by machiavelli.**

 **spartangeneral7** **: I don't accept story ideas normally. But I may yet consider that one, and credit you, should I do it.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	18. Chapter 17: Ultimatum - I Beheld a Pale

**CHAPTER 17:**

 **ULTIMATUM/I BEHELD A PALE HORSE, AND ITS RIDER WAS DEATH…**

 _Instrumentality was bloody weird, Harry reflected to himself. Here he was, in some strange metaphysical ocean, naked, with an equally naked Rei straddling him. What was more, the flesh of their bodies was partially fused together. It would have been disturbing, nightmarish, but there was something about the experience that was pleasant, even erotic. He certainly felt more serene than he had for a long time, at peace._

 _And he realised he could see her memories, and she his. Not all of them, lest they be driven mad. But there was a unity of their minds, or at least an overlap._

 _"Is this Instrumentality?" Harry asked quietly._

 _"Yes. We are currently at its core, a Sea of LCL," Rei confirmed. "A fusion between human souls, one that will, unless we do something about it, encompass the entire world."_

 _"…Is this what SEELE wanted?"_

 _"Yes. All humanity fused together, their weaknesses made irrelevant by the pooling of their strengths. An immortal group consciousness. That is their final goal."_

 _"…Huh." He looked around at the landscape around them, like being underwater. "…Nice as it is, well, it's a bit boring, isn't it?"_

 _After a moment, Rei said, "Yes, it is. All my life has been leading up to this moment. I was expecting oblivion, and welcoming it. Or even if I became part of this…well, I would accept this. But you, and Shinji, and Sohryu…so many others…I find myself desiring more life. More experiences. Even if they bring pain. Because loneliness…I don't want to experience that ever again. I have you…and I don't want to be alone again…"_

 _"…I don't want you to be alone, Rei. But are we alone here?"_

 _"Yes and no. We're only maintaining our individuality temporarily. The Chamber of Gauf is opening, the souls of the living and the newly dead are mingling. Soon, Impact will cover the entire world, and reduce all humanity to primordial soup, and the souls will merge into one. But…with that power Third Impact can bring us…I think we can channel that into something else. We can save this world…but to do that, we need to channel that excess energy somewhere. And given that I am now one with Lilith, that I am effectively Lilith…I think we can go home…to your home."_

 _Harry was surprised. "You'd do that?"_

 _"You miss them, Harry. And you're afraid of what will happen if Voldemort is allowed to run free. And, well, I want to see your world too. A world untouched by Second Impact. Many of us do. I intend to take NERV over to your world, and from there, we can have a new beginning…"_

* * *

Rei watched her prey with narrowed crimson eyes. The truth was, she wanted nothing more than to turn this person into a liquefied mess of LCL, but she needed them for a purpose.

So once her prey was alone (something that was difficult), she used the powers of Leliel, using a portal to bring him to her, and she gripped him by the throat. "Sshhh," she hissed at him quietly. "You are going to do something for me."

Her prey glared at her, and tried to say something, only for her to tighten her grip. " ** _No_**. You do not speak. You _listen_. You may think because of your lineage, you hold more power than anyone. I think the same thing, only I am right. I could flay your mind with a thought, allow your sins to eat you alive, or I could liquefy your body, and pour you down a drain, and nobody would ever know what happened to you. I could even drop your body into a portal into a Dirac sea. Do you know what that is? No, your being a Pureblood precludes that, I would imagine. Think of a magical trunk, with no gravity, no air, no way out save for what I make. Nobody would find you. Now, I am going to talk, and you are going to do what I say. I have a message for the…thing that you and your father worship. I have a message for Lord Voldemort."

Crimson eyes met blue ones, the latter flashing in fear, loathing and fury. "I am not your messenger boy," Draco Malfoy choked out, before Rei tightened her grip.

"Yes you are," she hissed. "You will write a letter to your father. That's what you frequently threaten to do. 'Wait until my father hears about this'," she mocked. "Harry was so informative. In any case, you will tell Lord Voldemort that I am sick and tired of the killing. In exchange for sparing the lives of Harry and his friends, along with my allies, I will grant him the secret to immortality."

"How would a Mudblood know?" Draco sneered.

"NERV was working on it back home," Rei retorted. "I was the key to the secret. I will meet Voldemort at a time of my choosing. I will grant him the immortality he seeks, and in return, he will stop attacking my friends and allies."

"You don't demand anything of the Dark Lord, you stupid…GURK!"

"I can and I will. Now, run along bawling to your father, Draco. Or I will turn you into primordial soup."

She released him, and he scurried away in a rather undignified fashion. A nasal voice rang out from nearby. "A dangerous gambit, Ayanami."

Rei winced. She should have realised Snape would be nearby, as he emerged from a dark alcove in the corridor. "Back home, we engaged in missions with appallingly low chances of success. Or maybe you would like to relay the message yourself."

"Better that I confirm your words than act as a messenger boy," Snape said. "Draco will tell his father, who will relay it to the Dark Lord. But do you think you can best him?"

"Yes," Rei said bluntly. "No more will good men like Mr Weasley be killed because of this. I may not be able to purge Blood Purists from this country, but I can rid the world of the man they rally around." She looked over at the dark-haired man. "And what of you? Whose side are you really on?"

After a moment, the dour, greasy-haired Potions master said, "You ask the wrong question, Ayanami."

There was something about the man that reminded Rei of something, now that she came to think about it. There was something that reminded her, unpleasantly, of Gendo. The cold pragmatic attitude, the disdain he held for others…she was tempted to unleash Arael's power on him, strip his secrets bare. He was a deeply unpleasant man.

But he had Dumbledore's trust. And while Rei didn't quite trust Dumbledore as much as Harry did, she at least acknowledged the man's experience and power, and that he was on Harry's side, even if he had a funny way of showing it. So she would give Snape the benefit of the doubt.

She headed to the Chamber of Secrets, feeling the gaze of Snape on her back as she left. He could glare all he liked, but Rei could glare better. Plus, she had the power of the Angels at her disposal…

* * *

Snape watched the blue-haired girl stalk away. Given what Dumbledore had told him, he was glad to not be the target of her wrath, even if he daren't admit such a thing. Plus, there was what she did to Umbridge. And with Arthur Weasley dead, she was on the warpath.

It was little wonder the Potter brat had fallen for her. While their personalities were different in many ways, Rei reminded him somewhat of Lily. But whereas Lily's temper was fiery, Rei's was cold as ice, though it reminded him a little of what Lily was like when she truly got mad…like in the aftermath of the 'Mudblood' incident. And she had to have something to her to pilot those metal monstrosities they were supposed to have piloted in this alternate world, and against monsters.

Asuka reminded him more of Lily, though, in terms of character. True, Asuka was more crass and egotistical than Lily, and less empathetic, but she definitely had Lily's fire and thirst to prove herself. Actually, Lily was closer to that Kyoko woman.

Anyway, Arthur Weasley was a Muggle-loving fool and a henpecked husband who had foolishly had far too many children for his resources. In addition, for someone supposed to know about Muggles, he knew less than Snape did. Snape knew, at least in broad terms, how electricity worked, the basic principles of radio and television, as well as chemistry that even few Potioneers bothered to read up on. But Arthur was still…well, Snape hesitated to say good man, as the man was a staunch supporter of Dumbledore. But Arthur was dedicated to stopping Voldemort, and Snape could get behind that. He was sick of being beholden to two masters, and he'd be glad if he was able to live the rest of his life with at least one of them out of the picture.

Still, he had overheard Rei's ultimatum that she wanted Draco to deliver. He had to wonder, did she truly have what it took to deal with Voldemort? Given what little he had heard about what NERV and SEELE were up to, he had an inkling of what Rei intended for Voldemort. But would it be enough?

Snape allowed a sardonic smirk to touch his lips. Perhaps if he was lucky, he might be soon divested of one master. And perhaps the other would finally unchain him. Perhaps he would be free from teaching these brats. Perhaps he would be free to live his life the way he wished…

* * *

The members of NERV looked up when Rei walked into their headquarters in the Chamber of Secrets. Kith and kin all, only it took her gaining new bonds to realise it. Bonds Gendo discouraged. But here she was. They looked at her, not as the monster they had been trying to fight, but as their friend and comrade.

"I have told Malfoy to send the message," Rei said softly.

"Will Voldemort take the bait?" Misato asked.

Remus nodded. "Even if he suspects a trap, he's supremely confident. Anyway, by killing Rei, he'd hurt Harry. I still don't feel right about this. Rei's taking an awful risk."

"That's why we will be there," Yui said, Kyoko and Kaworu nodding. "As Angelic beings, even if only partly, we can either amplify or negate the effects of Impact, effectively containing it. The Mass Production EVA Units were intended to help direct the effects of Impact. But we can only do so safely over a relatively large area. And there's of course the problem that, once the Chamber of Gauf is open, closing it is going to be difficult."

"And I will be there too," Harry said. As Rei looked at him sharply, he said, "Rei…I may not be an Angel, Nephilim-like heritage aside, but I'm not standing on the sidelines. You brought me into Impact safely last time…I acted as your anchor then. I will do it again. Plus, Voldemort will want to see me dead. I will help ensure he's around."

After a moment, Rei nodded. "Very well. But…I don't want to sacrifice you, Harry."

"And I don't want you to sacrifice yourself, Rei. You may be the nearest thing this world has to a god, but…well, I don't think that means you're invincible or immortal."

"I know. Harry…remember, before you met me, I was all too-willing to die, to end my existence. But Shinji began to change that, and so did you. You both helped me find something to fight for, other than defining my existence through being an Evangelion pilot."

Shinji smiled, as did Harry. "I'm glad you think that way, Rei. I'm…I'm getting used to life without the Evangelions. A life where I can be myself. I'm…glad we got a fresh start here. But Rei…I don't want you to die," Shinji concluded.

"Neither do I," Rei said. "Trust me…"

* * *

Voldemort sneered at the letter Lucius had brought him, like a lowly messenger. This Ayanami girl had dared to claim she had the secret of immortality? It was a blatant falsehood, though the slim possibility that it was true was intriguing. But even more intriguing was that Ayanami was close to Potter. Which meant that she could either be used as a hostage, or killed outright. Voldemort personally leaned towards the latter. Through Draco's previous letters and the brouhaha in the press, Voldemort learned of Ayanami apparently attacking Umbridge and getting away with it, so having her as a hostage was potentially dangerous, to the Death Eaters if nothing else. Voldemort, after all, was utterly assured of his own invincibility.

He didn't know it, in his arrogance, but he was on the verge of beholding the Pale Horse, the horse whose rider was Death. Or perhaps a fate worse than it. Instead, he said to Lucius, "Write to your son, Lucius. Tell him that we will meet Ayanami at the following time and place…"

 **CHAPTER 17 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, the climax is fast approaching. What will happen?**

 **Incidentally, sorry about the long wait for the chapter. Inspiration was lacking.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


End file.
